Time Is On My Side I think
by angeleyes4191
Summary: SyFy's Alice. Hatter decides to go after Alice, after a push from Jack. Will it be happily ever after or are the cards stacked against them? First fic, so I've never written one of these things before. Please look inside. I don't own anything!
1. Time is on My Side

_It just seems so empty_, Hatter thought to himself as he paused after clearing another shelf of its teas. It had been only half a day since Alice had returned to her world, leaving Hatter with only his thoughts and a massive cleanup operation. His shop was not only ransacked, but now he had to get rid of all the teas that were once sold there. A biohazard crew was gonna stop by to pick up the liquids so no one could steal them and sell them on the Wonderland black market.

He couldn't help but think about how he was gonna miss his old importance. Before the queen was removed from power he had a purpose, some, people looked up to him. Alice had not only taken his heart with her, but she had left him with nothing to fill in the whole.

Hatter was quickly shaken out of his revelry when he spotted Dormouse trying to steal another bottle.

"Hey, I don't want to have to tell you again Dormie, you can't keep any of the teas...especially that one. If you take another drop of this, I think your head'll explode." he said as he walked over to his former employee and took the bottle from him. It was Self-Importance. "Huh, now I know how you put up with work every day."

"Ah, come on Hatter! Can't I just keep one, or maybe five?" Dormouse asked.

"If I let you take any of these teas Dormie, how do you think that would make me look? I have an image to up hold, ya know. I'm a hero now."

"Not much of one apparently." a familiar voice responded from the doorway.

"Oh great, your majesty is here. How could we get on without you, oh fearless leader?" Hatter replied as he looked upon a face that he despised, or at least a face that he felt jealous of. Jack had had her longer than he ever would.

"Please." Jack replied as he watched Dormouse scampered out of the room with probably more than just a bottle of Self-Importance, judging by the clanging of his coat. "You know, I could have you arrested for this."

"No you can't! Everyone knows that this was just a front and that I was helping the resistance."

"I know, but having you arrested for _something_ would help me feel better. Tell me, Hatter, are you a moron or a coward?" Jack said as he wandered over to sit behind Dormouse's desk. He seemed to easily conform to the role of King, sitting there looking down at Hatter with a look that told him of his true insignificance.

"Did you come all the way here to insult me? I'm sure this would've worked just as well if you had sent a lackey to do it." Hatter replied as he went back to clearing off shelves.

"Hatter, I'm not doing this out of any fondness for you. I'm doing this for the woman we both love."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well good, you are just a moron then, this problem is fixable....Look, I'm worried that someone may go after her and I very well can't leave to go protect her, beside she wouldn't want me too anyway."

"Again, send a lackey. I'm needed here."

"No you're not. And the kick is you know it...she trusts you Hatter. She wanted you to leave with her. Despite how much I might hate the idea, she wants you, not me."

"What do you mean? I saw you two gettin' pretty cozy before she went through the looking glass. I won't be surprised if she shows back up with a suit case, beggin' you to put that atrocious lookin' ring on her pretty little finger."

"How thick are you? She has refused me and she basically told me that she wants you now. She's changed because of all this-"

"She wouldn't have had to go through any of it if you hadn't forced it on her!" Hatter snapped as he grabbed a bottle. He was really calculating how long he'd be in prison if he threw it at Jack.

"Ah, yes." Jack sighed as he stood and fixed his bright red jacket before walking up to Hatter, he didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of Hatter's anger, but then again one pissed off guy doesn't matter much when you have half the royal guard standing on the other side of the front door. "But then you would never have met her. Stop trying to play tortured Hatter it doesn't suit you, just go after her."

"And what am I gonna do once I get there with no money and nowhere to live?"

At that Jack pulled a thick envelop out of his pocket, "Arrangements have been made. You are to take up residence in my old apartment, try not to break anything, and as for clothes and a job I can't help you. Maybe you could get some of my old Earth clothes hemmed?"

"I doubt we have the same sense of style. Ya know, boring." Hatter replied through squinted lids.

He didn't like this. Hatter had never needed anyone. He was pretty much alright with carrying the weight of all this on his shoulders alone, but he had to admit, he was getting tired of Wonderland and all the tricks that he employed to stay alive. Even with this new regime he knew that there would be hard times ahead. Suddenly the thought of actually confronting Alice about how he felt didn't seem so terrible, no matter how frightened of the idea he really was.

"Fine, I'll do it."

"I knew you couldn't refuse. Alice is going to need Wonderland's second greatest Hero to protect her." Jack replied as he clasped Hatter's shoulder with a smirk.

"Second greatest?! I did a hell of a lot more than you did! Ooo you stole somethin', I always thought that was criminal not heroic."

"Hatter are we really going to argue about which one of us is the better man?"

"Yes-no…When do I leave?" Hatter sighed as took the envelop that Jack had been holding this entire time.

Jack moved toward the door once there he looked down ay his watch, "Oh in about say, one hour. And," he paused while one of the spades walked through the door with a small pile of clothes that were topped off with a hard hat, "The Looking Glass portal opens into a construction site. You'll need to put these on to blend in…"

Hatter looked down with distain at the pile as it was handed to him, "Well, isn't this just fantastic. I haven't played dress since I was a boy."

"You played dress up?… You know what, never mind. Just try not to be late because there is still a chance you can catch up with her." Jack said with finality as he turned toward the door, but before he was gone he turned back to Hatter and said, "Just remember Hatter, things will be different for you in Alice's world." and then he was gone.

"Different? How different?"


	2. Don't Fear the Mirror

_Right on time_.

"Back away foul demon!" Charlie yelled as Hatter walked into The Looking Glass chamber.

The old knight looked as if he was going to put the pointy end of his rusty sword into Hatter's stomach.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop Charlie! Its me, Hatter." Hatter responded as he dodged the first swing of the potentially deadly weapon.

"Haha! You may have taken the harbinger's voice, but you forget fiend-" Charlie paused to take a breath between swings, "I have looked into the ether! Your bubble headed kind shall not triumph!" By this point the crowds in the chamber had begun to look in the direction of the White Knight's battle.

Hatter took another step back before pulled off the ridiculous thing that Earth people called a 'hard hat' just in time. "No Charlie, its really me."

"Aha, do not fear Harbinger for I have vanquished the demon that had you trapped in its innards."

"…Well, ah, thanks for that." Hatter replied as he took a deep breath. Once again praising whatever power that be for his continued existence, while also cursing whoever it was that put together his entire ensemble.

"No need, no need." Charlie said with a wave of his hand as if Hatter had offered him his first born child.

"Charlie, have you seen Jac- ah the King around? I need to talk to him about something."

"No I haven't lad." Charlie responded as he led the way over to the strange cot that the suits let him set up because he refused to leave his post. _No longer a coward I gather, I guess we've all changed_, Hatter thought with some regret as he looked at the man in front of him.

Hatter sat waiting with Charlie for a few minutes, lost in his own thoughts. These thoughts were the types of thoughts that are always thought by those who are lost in love;

_Will she be happy to see me or will she just tell me to piss off? Should I get her something? Does she like flowers? Maybe, what are they, roses? Earth flowers would probably be safer than anything here. Something from the Tulgey Wood would probably try to eat her or something._

Well, at least most of them are…anyway.

"Hatter!" a voice called from across the room, as if it was looking for him. Many of the oysters who recognized Hatter from the casino and began to point in his direction.

"Finally," he sighed as he stood. He was expecting to see Jack rushing towards him with some harsh words about how he was late, but it was only a suit.

"Good, come with me," the 6 of spades said once he spotted Hatter. Hatter followed him to what appeared to be the front of the line.

"Wait a bit, isn't there like some sort of waiting period to go through. Shouldn't I, ya know, go to the end of the line." Hatter asked as he began to feel a little skittish about his current course of action.

"No, I have direct orders from the King of Wonderland which state that you are to go through as soon as possible. This is mainly due to the fact that the portal to your destination will be closing soon and he wants you to find the girl before we send the rest through. So please sir, walk up and follow the directions for the trip."

Hatter took his first few steps toward the mirror before a thought caught him, "Oy, ah…6?!" he called as he raced back toward the retreating figure of the suit. "Did the King mention anything else?"

"Pertaining to?"

"Something he said to me earlier…that things would be different for me in Alice's world. He seemed creepily specific. D'you know what he meant?"

"Sorry, sir I don't. Now can you please hurry along, your not the only one that needs to go through the Looking Glass."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks for your 'help'." he said ending the conversation with his usual sarcastic tone as he once again moved toward the Looking Glass.

Right when he was about to take the final few steps a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Hatter could almost hear the collective groan of those waiting as he turned to the knight.

"Going to leave without saying goodbye Harbinger?"

"Oh ah…I'm not huggin' you."

"A knight does not deal in 'hugs'." he replied in disgust.

"Ummm, goodbye then?"

"Goodbye lad. Ah, 'go get her' as they would saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa- You are not all you appear to be Harbinger."

Charlie was doing the same strange thing that he had done when he 'sensed' Alice in the casino.

"What do you mean Charlie?"

"Oh for the Kings sake!" one of the looking glass workers griped, "We literally don't have all day here!"

"Just be quiet a moment, alright?! What Charlie?" Hatter yelled the foreboding feeling grew in he stomach.

"There is something…more…under the surface…perhaps a toenail reading would help?"

Hatter couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him as he squeezed Charlie's shoulder. "I'll admit, I am not gonna miss that Charlie…Goodbye sir knight."

Charlie seemed to shake himself for a moment before replying, "Oh and Goodbye to you Hatter. Protect the maiden in my stead."

"I'll do that." Hatter said with one last pat on Charlie's shoulder.

Finally he turned to the portal. He couldn't help but notice that two of the workers had moved behind him, as if to keep him from turning back again. His legs took him the final stretch as the pale man came to him at the threshold.

"Just, remember to breathe." he said with a push…


	3. Oh, What a Night

**_Hi guys, thanks so much for the comments. I would like to once again point out that I do not own anything. Also, I had trouble coming up with this chapter. I hope it reads well __:)._**

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Colored clouds and lights flash past him as Hatter plummeted through the portal and with the panic of falling he forgot the pale man's main instruction, Breathe.

_You'd think they'd warn people a bit more before pushing them to certain death. _

He felt as though he had been falling forever when he finally landed on solid ground. Hard solid ground. He quickly became grateful for the hard hat. If he hadn't been wearing it, Hatter would've received one nasty concussion.

"Ow," he groaned upward as he laid sprawled on his back. For a few minutes all he could do was lay in place and breathe in all the air that his lungs would allow.

After what felt like hours, Hatter got to his feet. His eyes searched for any sign of Alice in the damp building that was home to Earth's Looking Glass. With the way Jack spoke to him earlier, he assumed that she couldn't have gone far.

He knew he was right once he spotted her blue clad form a few feet from where he stood. Wasting no time, he went to her. Kneeing down, he noticed that she hadn't been as lucky in landing as he had. Knowing he shouldn't panic and that he shouldn't try to shake her, Hatter lifted Alice into his arms as gently as he could.

"Alice," he whispered, without knowing why, as he cradled her. He really didn't know what to do or where to go. Alice clearly needed some sort of medical attention.

_Wait_, Hatter could hear the sound of foot steps that was coming from somewhere in the building.

_What should I do? Are they a friend or an enemy?, _he asked himself as he pulled Alice closer to his chest. Even in such a dismal situation, being close to Alice, holding her was slowing filing back in the hole that she had left so quickly.

As the foot steps began to fade Hatter did the only thing that he could think of. Almost without realizing it, he choose to mimic the voice of an oyster that he had helped out a while back, "She's over here!" he yelled even though he wasn't entirely sure if this person had been looking for her. He gently laid Alice back down and stood so he didn't look strange holding her whenever this person decided to show.

Hatter had only to wait about a minute before he spotted someone coming towards him.

"Who the hell are you?!" the man shouted as he shined a flashlight in Hatter's eyes, "And what did you do to her?!"

"Nothin'! I didn't do anythin' to her, I swear. I just found her like this. Look she's hurt we have to get her to a hospital." Hatter replied, slipping back into his normal accent with his hands in the air.

The man didn't seem to completely believe Hatter, but he couldn't deny that something had to be done for the girl. "Alright," he said as he pulled something off his belt, "I'll call an ambulance, but you, you just stay where I can see you."

Hatter nodded and went to sit near Alice, but before he could the man said, "Not by the girl." and not wanting to cause any trouble Hatter regretfully moved away from her.

The man talked on what Hatter assumed was a phone or walkie-talkie for a few minutes before looking to Hatter once more. "What are you two doing here anyway?"

Hatter could only think of one thing to say, but given that it was obviously late he doubted its believability, "I was looking for a job."

"At this time of night?"

"Yeah," Hatter sighed through his nerves, "See I just got done with work and I was hoping I could catch someone in charge of this site before they left for the night, but all I ended up doing was finding her."

Despite his misgivings, the man seemed to believe Hatter, he bent down, looked Alice over, and said, "Good thing you did too, she doesn't look so hot. I wonder if anyone's been lookin' for her, pretty girl like that's gotta have someone out there. What's your name?"

_She's got someone right here_, "Wait, you mean you weren't lookin' for her?"

"No, I didn't know what I'd be finding exactly. Someone reported a disturbance and, well here I am." the man sighed and walked toward Hatter, who could now see the young man's uniform. He was a police officer. "Again, what's your name?"

_Damn it_, "D-David, David Hatter." he quickly replied, as he remembered the name that Jack had put on all the paper work that was provided the envelop he had given Hatter.

"Can I see some ID?"

"ID?…Oh my ah ID." Hatter mumbled as he searched the inner pockets of the costume jacket that he was wearing. He pulled out the plastic card with his fake name and picture on it and handed it to the cop.

Hatter could hear the ambulance siren as the officer looked him over once more before handing him back the card. They stood in silence for a few minutes before the EMTs walked in the room with a stretcher and their equipment. After they did, whatever it is that they do, they lifted her onto the stretcher and rolled her out of the room. Hatter followed them to the vehicle that he took to be the ambulance.

Once they lifted her inside, Hatter wasted no time in trying to follow, but one of the EMTs stopped him.

"Hold on sir," she said with her hand on his chest, " Are you this woman's spouse or an immediate family member?"

"What? N-No."

"Then I'm sorry, you can't ride with us." she replied as Hatter was forced back on to the concrete.

"Well, how will I know if she's okay?!" Hatter asked. He was worried that he would never find her again if they drove off without him.

"Frankly sir, I don't know and I don't really care." the woman said as she closed the doors.

Hatter could only stand and watch as they drove off with Alice to who knows where.

"Look," the cop sighed, causing Hatter to jump because he had forgotten that the young man was even there. "They'll probably take her to Mercy Hospital. If you want I'll drop you off."

"That would be extremely helpful, thanks." Hatter replied as he was led to the officer's squad car. "Can I ask you your name?"

"Oh, Officer Paul McGrady. And I would appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone? Its basically my first night on patrol and well, I could get into a lot of trouble for doin' this."

"No problem, Officer McGrady." Hatter replied with a smile and he sat in the passenger seat.

When Paul finally settled in and started the drive he asked Hatter one simple question, "So, where are you from anyway? I haven't heard your accent around here before."

Hatter sighed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."


	4. Mad World

**This Chapter is short I know lol, but that's only because I typed it up and decided that what I typed should be two chapters. So, I'll put them both up a the same time :).**

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After an awkward 10 minute conversation about how he was from some country by the name of England, Hatter got out of Paul McGrady's patrol car and walked through the hospital's doors.

As soon as he entered the hectic waiting room, he regretted it.

It almost seemed like a battle field. People moaning and crying out in pain, family members trying to sooth each other as tears fell from their eyes, small children running around in a place where blood seemed to be an all too common sight. It reminded him of too many things that he wanted to forget.

While trying to avert his gaze, Hatter walked straight to the one place of reason, the reception desk.

"Ummm Hello, Yeah excuse me." Hatter said to the middle aged woman in front of him. At first she didn't seem to see him. Hatter repeated himself with as much force as he could short of yelling and waving his hands in the woman's face.

It took her about a minute, but she eventually looked up at him as she slid a clipboard up onto the counter and said, "Sir, please fill out your information and we'll get to you when we can."

"No- ah sorry…Sharon," he replied with a nod to her name tag, "I was wondering if you could help me find someone, a woman. She would've been brought in not too long ago."

"Sir, if you can't tell by this hell, we're a tad bit busy at the moment. So if you could sit down and fill out your wife's information, maybe we could find her for you."

"Whoa, she's not my wife. Look, I just pretty much saved her life and all I wanna do is find her to make sure she's okay."

"Isn't that sweet, you look…?"

"David,"

"David, I don't have time to help you find your girl friend, I don't even have time to have this conversation. Please just, go…somewhere."

"Fine, ah thanks for your patience. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Sharon replied with a grumble, thus ending their lovely little chat.

Hatter took a seat next a quiet old man and waited. And waited. He learned quickly that all the strife around him was caused by an accident on a highway; one of the vehicles involved was a bus. Hatter knew that with all that was happening around him he would have to find Alice on his own.

He spotted his chance to get into the main area of the hospital when someone was wheeled by on a stretcher with so many people working on him, no one would notice if Hatter joined them. He stood quickly and followed the group through a pair of double doors before taking off on his own.

He sped down hallway after hallway before pausing for a breath. "Damn it," Hatter sighed when he realized that he didn't even have the first clue of where to start looking for her.

"Did you see who they just brought in Dan? …Isn't she your karate instructor?"

"Huh, yeah I think that is her. Alice Hamilton. Let me see her chart."

Hatter over heard the conversation in passing, but at the sound of Alice's name he paused grateful that he had at least found the part of the hospital that she was placed in.

"Concussed and it seems as though she hyperventilated….Where was she found?"

"At a construction site."

"Does anyone know what happened? Or why she was there?"

"No, I'll I know is that apparently a construction worker found her."

Hatter noticed that the two nurses were standing in a doorway; a doorway that he hoped led to Alice.

"Well, according to this, her injuries aren't that severe. She'll be fine in a few hours. I'm gonna go call the number she gave out at the dojo, maybe someone at home is looking for her." Dan the nurse said as he closed the chart, handed it back to the female nurse, and walked off.

"Okay," she sighed as she placed the chart on the door.

Once the two nurses were gone Hatter crept into the silent room.

There he saw Alice lying in a bed facing a blank wall; with various tubes, needles, and machines hooked up to her. He knew they were not alone, so he grabbed the curtain and pulled it around the bed as silently as possible. Remembering what Dan said, Hatter didn't try to wake her, he just pulled the chair by her bed closer and sat down. Avoiding the needles, he took her hand, knowing that by this simple contact he would be able to stand the time it took for her to come back to him.


	5. What's New Kitty Cat

**I decided to try something new with a known character, I hope you like it :D.**

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"You spoiled sniveling child!" the disheveled Queen of Hearts screamed at her son from behind the iron bars of her prison cell, "How can you do this to your own mother?! Your own flesh and blood?!" Oh, how the mighty fall. The once magnificent Queen was now in a lowly stone cell, alone.

"Mother, my remaining sympathies for you vanished when you sentenced me to death. I've only come down here to inform you that father's body was found a few hours ago among the wreckage of your Casino." Jack replied coldly. The King's father realized to late what his wife was, and he paid dearly for it.

"You two are the same. Too weak to get anything done! I ran this land the way it needed to be run. On the outside I may be a woman, but clearly I'm more man than either of you! I order you Jack, as your mother; Let me out of this cell. Now!"

"Sorry mum, I can't do that. Maybe you should take this time to think about what you really did to Wonderland; to its people, to your family." Jack said barely above a whisper as to make sure she listened.

"I did only what needed to be done." The Queen whispered back with daggers in her eyes.

"Well," Jack sighed, "I really must be going. I have an entire nation to clean and rebuild. I hope to see you soon mother, but I honestly don't know if I will have the time." He was out of the stone room seconds after his last words fell.

"I can't believe I gave a creature like you life!" she screamed again tossing her hard pillow across her cell in a fit of rage. She had only been imprisoned for three days and she knew that she simply would not take it much longer. She was Queen after all. She wasn't a simple rat that they pulled off the street. She was royal; from the highest deck in the land. As queen, as royalty, she would force herself out of her predicament in due time.

"Hello," a light voice whispered from the other side of the bars.

"Hello? Who's there?! I command that you show yourself to me!" the Queen yelled toward the spot in the hall that she thought the voice was coming from

"Ah, but you no longer have the authority to command anyone to do anything anymore oh great Queen of Black Hearts." The voice replied with humor, "But, maybe if I scratch your back you'll scratch mine?" it said as if to itself, which really confused the Queen because she was already talking to no one.

"Dear creature," she pleaded, "If you free me of this cell, I will do whatever you ask of me."

As soon as the words fell from her lips the figure of a woman appeared before her, a very strange woman at that. She wore a tight purple suit as a second skin that matched the color of both her eyes and hair. The Queen barely had a moment to register what she was seeing before the woman disappeared again, only to reappear seconds later but this time she was on the Queen's side of the cell.

She moved gracefully to where the queen stood where she did the weirdest thing. She circled the Queen only to then…nozzle her neck.

"What in Wonderland?!" the Queen shrieked as she swatted the girl away from her, this action she regretted once she received a slap in the face in return. "How Dare You?! I Am The Queen of Hearts!"

"Not anymore," the strange woman replied as she slinked back toward the bars and faded through them as if they weren't even there. With a large smile she turned and walked out the same exit that Jack went through and disappeared seconds later.

"Wait! I'm sorry I slapped you darling girl! Come Back! Let me out of this cell, damn you!" the Queen cried as she raced to the bars.

Something happened then, that the Queen had not expected at all. The cell door opened at her touch.

"Why thank you, you magnificent creature." The Queen said aloud though she wasn't sure if the strange girl could hear her.

And with a wide grin of her own, The Queen of Hearts walked out of her prison cell and back into Wonderland.


	6. Not So Sweet Dreams

**Howdy, sorry that it took me a bit to update. Holiday/Finals madness I guess, plus the added annoyance of having to write a chapter that you know isn't going to be the best but it has to get you from point A to point B. Reviews are welcome, hopefully they're good ones lol.**

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_...Everything was burning._

_Death filled the town around him._

_"William," his mother yelled as she took him by the shoulders, "You need to run!"_

_"But I'm not leaving without you!"_

_"You don't understand. They cannot find you! Now go!" his mother snapped as she shoved him toward the forest._

_At his mother's command, the 13 year old Hatter ran as fast as his legs would carry him into the dense trees._

_Worried about what would happen, Hatter found a hidden place where he could witness the events around him._

_He watched as his mother picked up a sword with skill as she went against foe after foe. Many of them fell at her feet until at last they became too much for her. Two men took hold of her arms and held her in place as if waiting for someone._

_Hatter could not see who it was that his mother spoke to, but he could see as pain filled her body. Hatter watched as seconds later his mother fell to the ground at the feet of the men that held her._

"_No, no, no," Hatter whispered to himself as tears came to his eyes. He had to dig his nails into the damp soil to keep himself from bolting out of his hiding place until the men that had ransacked his town were gone. Once they were all out of sight, Hatter ran, fell to his knees by his mother's side, and lifted her into his arms._

"_Mum, mum!" he yelled as he shook her slightly, "Hey, please wake up mum?!"_

"_Will," she whispered as she looked at him through half closed lids. Hatter couldn't understand it, there wasn't a mark on her, but she was dying. "Run, Will…run and don't ever stop. Leave me and don't ever come back here."_

"_No mum, come on you're coming with me." Hatter said though he knew it wasn't true._

"_I…love you….and I'm…so …sorry," she struggled to whisper to him as a moment later she took her last breath._

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"No!" Hatter awoke with a start. It seemed that he had fallen asleep for an hour or so while waiting for Alice to wake up. He instantly knew that through his dreams he had woken a bit louder than he should've. He could hear people on the other side of the curtain talking about how he shouldn't be there and about how security would be up in a few minutes.

_Fantastic_, Hatter thought to himself as he rubbed his face. With a sigh, he stood and made to go to the opening in the curtain, but before he got there he looked down at Alice.

She looked so small, almost nothing like the strong fighter he had known in Wonderland. Even then, despite her fears, she was a force to be reckoned with. As he looked down at her in that moment he knew that he would give anything for her to be up and around. If she would just open her eyes he'd be the happiest man in both worlds.

Hatter leaned over her, breathed her in, kissed her gently on the forehead, and exited beyond the curtain.

"Ummm, Hi." he said as nonchalantly as he could to the nurse that was staring at him with her mouth wide open, "I'm just, ahh, gonna…go, now."

As Hatter turned to walk out of the room he spotted to security guards waiting for him. The moment he left Alice's room they each took him by an arm. "Hey, hey, hey. I said I was goin' there's no need to be physical about it." he replied to their nonverbal message as he pulled his arms from their grasps.

"Excuse me?!" a woman's out of breath voice yelled when she almost bumped into them.

"Can we do something for you mama?" one of Hatter new best friends asked the disheveled looking woman.

"Yes, ummm I'm looking for my daughter, Alice Hamilton. I was told that she was brought in about an hour ago."

"You're gonna want to go to that reception desk-"

"Actually, she's in the room right over there." Hatter said with a small smile at Alice's mother.

Carol looked at Hatter with gratitude and a little shock, "Thanks. Do I , do I know you?"

"No-no you don't." Hatter replied before he started to walk away.

"Wait," Carol said as she grabbed his arm, "Someone mentioned…Are you the construction worker?"

Hatter let out a small sigh of relief. After years of fearing any type of discovery while in Wonderland, he was glad that in this instance discovery could help him, "Yeah, yes I am, the construction worker."

Hatter was taken off guard when Carol hugged him with all her might. "Thank you so much for finding her." When she released him, Hatter noticed that the security guards just walked away.

"You're Welcome, Mrs.-"

"Just call me Carol." she replied with a laugh, "Where are you going? Come on and visit her with me. I'm sure she'll want to thank you when she wakes up."

"I really can't. I kinda need to get settled meself. Could you by any chance tell me how to get to Market Street?" Hatter said. He wanted to stay more than anything, but he didn't want to freak her out and he was sure that if she woke up and saw him sitting there with her mother, well she'd be pretty freaked out.

"No, I can't sorry. Its funny, Alice told me that her boyfriend lives in an apartment on that street…"

"Oh really." Hatter replied with a nervous laugh, "Small world."

"Yeah. I wonder if she ever, you know what never mind. Look here's my number, please just call me when your free," she talked as she pulled a small piece of paper out of her purse and started writing on it, "And we'll have a thank you dinner or something."

Hatter took the paper, regretting the fact that he did actually have to leave. He had hoped that Alice would've woken up while he was there with her, but now he didn't want to risk staying if she woke up muttering something about him that would cause her mother to put her in an institution.

"Ah, thanks. I'll do that."

"Again, thank you so much. You have no idea how scared I was when she never came home….Can I ask, what's your name?"

"David," Hatter replied, once again letting the unfamiliar name fall from his lips.

Carol smiled once more before saying goodbye and entering her daughter's room. Hatter stood for a few seconds just staring at the door until, with a weary shrug, he walked away from the one place he wanted to be and into a new unknown world.


	7. There's Gonna Be A Headache Tonight

**Hello again :D. I'm going to move this story to the actual section for the Alice mini series, for anyone who cares lol. So, when I post the next chapter it'll be in the Alice section.**

* * *

"I should have expected that you'd take forever to show up."

"Bloody Hell," Hatter muttered to another bodiless voice. He had walked half way to Jack's apartment before he decided to try a taxi, that he paid for with the limited funds that Jack had given him. When he finally walked through the door he received this unexpected greeting.

"Over here," Jack's voice replied from a small mirror that hung on a wall near the door that also contained Jack's bleach blond head.

"Wonderful, I didn't know that the Looking Glass came in different sizes."

"It doesn't, well not exactly. These are the only two communication mirrors that are known to exist."

"You're not gonna like spy on me through that thing are you? Because I'm not responsible for whatever you see when you decide to pop in." Hatter said as he threw his coat unto a nearby chair.

"I don't exactly have time to watch your activities as if they were some reality show." Jack snapped as he ran his hand through his hair. Jack's outburst caused Hatter to actually look at him. The King of Wonderland was a complete mess; hair out of place, wrinkles on his collar, and bags under his eyes.

"What's happened?" Hatter asked his voice barely registering the building panic within him.

"It's none of your concern, where's Alice?"

"I'm sorry, have you forgotten that you sent me over here as a bodyguard and you're not gonna tell me what I need to be guarding against. Doesn't that seem a bit hypocritical to you?"

Hatter could hear Jack as he let out a heavy sigh while Hatter went off to investigated the apartment. It was most definitely Jack's style; organized, spotless, and full of muted colors. A.k.a. boring.

"Fine, but where's Alice? The two of you should hear about this."

"Well actually, Alice is kinda indisposed at the moment." Hatter replied with a voice that went up a few notes. He was grateful that the new apartment gave him an excuse not to be in front of the mirror.

"What do you mean 'indisposed'?"

"Well, you didn't exactly warn her about the landing did ya? You just shoved her right on through the Looking Glass. I mean if I didn't have that stupid looking hard hat you wouldn't be talkin' to me right now either."

"Wonderful. Is she at home or in a hospital?" Jack sighed.

"She's at Mercy Hospital and they said she'd be up and around soon enough." Hatter replied as he went to stand in front of the mirror, "Now, what is it that caused you to miss your last appointment with the stylist?"

"Mother's escaped." Jack replied while avoiding Hatter's eyes.

"Come again?"

"My mother, the Queen of Heart has somehow found a way to break out of her cell and now she's wandering around Wonderland doing who knows what, alright?!"

"I thought she was being held in a remote location, being guarded by the beefiest men in your royal guard."

"She was. That's the hardest thing to explain."

"What do you mean? Was there some sort of siege or did they all decide to take a pee break?"

Jack shot Hatter a weary look before continuing, "No they all…just died. Twenty young men just up and died from no apparent cause. There were no outer wounds, no poisons were used, and there wasn't a trace of any kind of toxin in the air. And stranger still, it must have happened mere minutes after I left."

Hatter sucked in a breath at the description that Jack had provided, it all seemed a little too familiar. "What exactly did they die of?"

"It seemed as though their organs were crushed by something, but that's not possible…" Jack truly looked at Hatter's face for the first time and he noticed something there, "You know something don't you."

"Me?…No, I don't know-its just…I've seen deaths like this before, a very long time ago."

"More information than that would be appreciated."

"I can't tell you anything else, its not going to shorten the list of what you don't know. Besides, I don't really remember what happened exactly….How long ago did she escape?"

"About two weeks ago."

Hatter had to think for a second before answering, "Two weeks?…I've only been here for a couple hours and she's been missing for two weeks…?"

Jack nodded at Hatter's confusion, "If you haven't already figured it out, there's a time difference between the worlds. It fluctuates. Sometimes an hour over there could be a day or more here, but time in Wonderland is always faster. We think it has something to do with the magic that was involved in creating the Looking Glass, but we can't be sure because we can't risk any tests on the mirror, especially not now."

"What does this mean? Will something happen to me or Alice?"

"As far as we know it doesn't affect aging in normal humans like myself and others that have traveled through it."

"Oh good goin' for normalcy then."

"So it shouldn't affect Alice or any of the other oysters, but Hatter you're not completely normal."

"What do you mean? Just because I dress better then you doesn't mean you should be prejudiced."

"No," Jack sighed in frustration, "Hatter, you have certain abilities that no one seems to be able to explain that can't possibly come from human blood."

Hatter blinked back in surprise"…Have you sent me over here on some sort of suicide mission?"

"I don't know, but for the time being you need to be on the look out. The Looking Glass is closed and the ring hidden, but I can't guarantee that it'll stay that way….Just protect her Hatter and I'll come back when I have more information."

After those comforting words, Jack disappeared and the small mirror went back to being just that. Hatter wandered over to the brown couch that was in the middle of the living room and sat down. He suddenly felt as though he had aged two weeks.


	8. This Kiss

**Yes, its short. But its sweet...and I'm gonna be posting something right after it lol.**

* * *

_Just ring the damn bell Hatter_.

It had been a day and a half since he saw Alice lying in her hospital bed. Yesterday he called Carol and she told him that Alice was doing well and that he could stop by their apartment at around noon the next day. That was a half an hour ago.

"Come on Hatter, its not like she's gonna run screaming in terror. You parted on good terms and you saved her life about a dozen times." _You need to see her._

Maybe it was just his paranoia, but the last day or so felt like hell to him. Not only did he have to adjust to life there, but he felt different, strange. Plus, there was the added strain of having to find something decent within Jack's limited wardrobe.

"Just reach out, and hit the bloody button." Hatter muttered to himself. To gain composure; he turned from the door, took a few steps, a breath, turned back, and finally rung the door bell. He could barely keep his feet in place as he waited for someone to open the door.

"David," Carol greeted with a smile when the door finally opened, "Come on in."

Hatter whipped off his hat as soon as he crossed the threshold of Alice's home. As he looked around he was reminded of Alice by everything he saw.

"She really does want to meet you she's just," Carol sighed with a shrug before she called to her daughter. "Alice, come meet David!"

Hatter could hear light foot steps as she walked down the hall. _Well, this is it._ He could see that she was looking down when she came into view. She looked beautiful. To Hatter, it seemed as though minutes passed until she finally lifted her head.

Her eyes widened when she saw his face. "Hatter!" she yelled before she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He pulled her closer as he let out a sigh of relief. This was the hug that he had been waiting for. The warmth and contact were enough to drive the worries from his mind.

"Finally," was the simple word he used to voice the very thoughts that had been running through his head.

Barely a second later, Hatter could hear and feel Alice as she said the one thing he had been hoping to hear, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you,"

With a small smile he pulled away from her. For a moment they both just looked at each other until Hatter did the one thing he had been dieing to do since what felt like forever. He kissed her.

The kiss was simple but filled with such feeling that he some how doubted that a kiss like theirs had ever existed in the history of the universe.

This kiss made Hatter regret not jumping through the Looking Glass the second after she did. With all that could possibly happen to him, or to her, in this world he regretted the time he had missed, the time he had wasted. Even if it was only minutes here, it was too long for him.

Time seemed to stop as he pulled away only to tell her one thing, "I missed you," before he kissed her as though she was the only thing with him in the entire world. As though she were the only thing that meant anything to him and she truly was.


	9. Bad Company

**Okie dokie. Happy holiday's to all and to all a good night! :D**

* * *

"What do you want of me?" the Queen asked of her savior as she was led by her and a few odd men through a dark building to a room that barely contained anything but one magnificent chair.

It wasn't the first time the Queen had asked this question. Throughout their journey here, for days on end, she had spoken nothing but those few words. If she didn't fear the strange girl as much as she did, she would've demanded answers. But as it were, the Queen couldn't quite gather the amount of courage that she used to have with hundreds of suits standing at her back.

"Would you please stop repeating those words? I mean you've said them over and over again. It really does get to be quite boring." the woman replied in her light voice with a stretch before she sat on what the Queen took to be a throne. By this time the strange men that had been with them since they had reached this building were gone.

"I'm sorry to be a bother to you, dear child, but you have dragged me over half of creation! With no food but what you have gotten for yourself, with no comfort but the trees, and with no words that could have provided any inclination as to why you have freed me."

"I thought it was perfectly obvious why I freed you from insignificant little prison." she once again replied with a taunting grin.

"I am truly sorry, but understanding is lost to me. Would you mind explaining, in exact detail, what it is that you want?"

"Here, sit." she giggled and with a wave of her hand an old man appeared from nowhere carrying a small chair with him. Once the Queen was settled the man left the room and the woman continued, "It really is quite simple….I need something and you can get it for me. If you succeed, you get to keep your freedom and return to power. It really is a win win for all involved…well, almost all."

The Queen waited for the girl to continue, but when all she did was stare, the Queen spoke up. "Details….please?"

At that moment the girl disappeared only to reappeared behind the Queen. The older woman could feel as the younger woman leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I'm looking for a man."

A little shocked the Queen could not hold back the tiniest bit of laughter the escaped her lips, "Oh darling girl, why didn't you say so sooner? With power I can get you any man that you desire."

"I truly hope you can. You see, I've been looking for him for a _very_ long time. Almost as long as he's been alive whether he realizes it or not."

"Why this man? What makes him so important to you? And what makes you think that you can put me back on the throne of Wonderland when my son, the great hero, sits in my stead?"

"The last of your questions in the easiest to answer."

"…Then will you please do so?"

The Queen could no longer hide her frustration as the girl moved to stand in front of her. "Why should I give in so quickly? Your questions are just starting to get fun."

"My dear, I cannot do what you ask of me without information."

"…Fine. The people of Wonderland are quickly growing malcontent."

"And why is that? I thought getting rid of me was the top thing on the 'to-do' list."

"It was, for some people….Think about it will you." the woman seemed to be getting annoyed with the Queen, but she was definitely still amused. "You've turned the majority of this…great nation into barely functioning dependents. Drug addicts and your lovely little oysters would say…Do you honestly believe that every single one of them wanted to give that up?…They'll follow you like bees to honey. You only have to give them the chance."

"I like your reasoning, dear creature, but how will we go about doing this? My son is on the throne you see. He will be heavily guarded. And if he _were _to fall, almost anyone could take his place."

"Ah, that's were your wrong. One of royal blood must sit on the throne of Wonderland, and there are _so few_ like that left."

The Queen felt a chill down her spine at the words the girl spoke with her delighted grin. "Alright then," she whispered before clearing her throat, "What do I call you, you wonderful girl? Surely you have a name?"

"I do. In fact, I have many. Some as old as Wonderland itself. You can call me…Chess, oh Queen of Black Hearts. I am at your service, as long as you're at mine."

"Okay ummm, Chess…Again I ask you, why are you after this man?"

"That particular bit of information," Chess paused with baited breath, "is none of your business. What would be the fun of the game if you knew how it ends?"

"But how can I play without knowing who he is?"

"But you do know him, you see, you probably know him better then I do, but we need something your son has to get him."

"Who are we speaking of Chess? Who is the man that you have gone through all this trouble for?!"

Instantly, Chess snapped out of her annoyed amusement and without warning she moved her face to within inches of the Queen's. With her eyes flashing she whispered, "Tell me what you know about the one they call Hatter."


	10. Movin' On

**Aaaaaaaannnnnnnddddd we're back! :).**

* * *

"…Ahem."

The noise was small but it was enough to make both Hatter and Alice remember that they an audience. Pulling slightly away from Hatter, Alice was able to get a clear view of her mother's face and it wasn't hard to see that poor Carol was deeply confused.

"Alice would you…ah come help me in the kitchen? Now, please." Carol added before she stocked off in the opposite direction.

Alice let out a half-sigh/half-giggle as she watched her mother go. Turning back to Hatter, who still had her in his arms, she said, "Yeah, I better follow her. If I don't she might come back with weapons."

"Oh, right. Well, I'll just…sit," Hatter replied with a wave of his hand, "Over there, without touchin' anythin'."

Looking up at him she couldn't help but smile. He was there. He had come after her. Slowly, she leaned into him on her toes so that she could reach up for one last kiss before walking into the kitchen after her mother.

"Can I ask what that was?" Carol asked upon Alice's appearance.

"Its kind of hard to explain."

"Alice, what happened that night? Did you and Jack fight? I mean you seemed so happy with him and…I just don't understand how that could've changed so quickly. Was it because of that ring?" Carol asked as she cut a cucumber for the salad that she was putting together.

"You could say that….Mom, Jack…Jack wasn't who I thought he was." Alice replied as she to picked up a knife and started on a tomato.

"Why? What happened?….Have you been, have you been sleeping with this David? Is that what this is about, have you been seeing someone else-"Carol whispered to her daughter as if she was afraid that the man in the next room would hear her.

"What?! No, how could you even ask me that?!" Alice cut her off as she dropped the knife and looked at her mother.

"I just want you to be honest with me Alice. I thought that you loved Jack, or that at least you would eventually. You're my daughter and I only want to see you happy, but watching you destroy your love life because of what happened with your father, I can't do did it anymore."

Alice was slightly shelled shocked by her mother's words. She had never realized that Carol felt that way. Alice always took pride in her independence, but her mother was right, since her father disappeared she had avoided the idea of love. The idea of having a man in her life that cared for her had seemed unbelievable. Alice tested her relationships with men, wondering how long they would stay with her when she believed that her father couldn't even bare it. She never even took the time to notice what her actions did to Carol.

Jack _had_ been different. They had lasted longer than any of her other relationships and she really thought that she loved him. That was until she learned that he was a liar. Jack was a good man and he did what he had to do, but that didn't make what he had done to her disappear.

But how could she ever explain what had happened? How could she tell her mother that she was transported to a mystical land where she spent days on an adventure when she was only gone for mere minutes here?

And even now, after everything else, there was Hatter. He had changed from a selfish and manipulative con man to a man that she trusted. Oddly enough, into a man who would've died for her. A man who ended up being tortured because of her. He fought with her and lost everything because of her.

"Look mom, when I say its hard to explain, its because it is. When I tell you, for the hundredth time, that things'll be different this time its because they will be. Things are different now, I've changed and Ha-David is a big part of that." Alice said as she looked into her mother's confused eyes with sincerity.

"But, how do you even know him? I thought that he just showed up and you happened to be there and now here he is and your kissing him like…" once again Carol sighed with confusion.

"I do know him." Alice replied as she smiled to herself, "And trust me mom, he's a good guy and good for me."

Carol took a moment to look at her daughter, Alice didn't know what she saw but Carol smiled back at her, "Okay, I trust you. I just wish that you could explain things to me, you used to talk to me about everything."

Alice hugged her mother before pulling away and saying, "Maybe some day, but right now you wouldn't believe me."

"…You probably want to talk to David without me around, how about you two get out of here? Go for a walk or something."

"You sure?" Alice backed up for a second, "I mean you bought all this food and everything."

"Yeah I'm sure, and the foods no problem just come back for dinner." Carol replied before laughing to herself, "Its funny, I'm gonna be having dinner with another one of your boyfriends within the span of two days. Just promise me that you're not going to bring a different guy home with you."

Alice rolled her eyes with a grin, "I promise, you know unless he's really cute."

With a grin of her own Carol threw a dish cloth at Alice, who caught it and placed it on the counter before heading back to Hatter.


	11. Peace of Mind

**:)!!!**

* * *

"You know I've seen 'em in books and I've ridden in a few recently, but I don't really see the point." Hatter remarked as he and Alice walked down the street. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself so polite conversation was what topped his list.

"The point of what?" Alice replied. They were walking down a busy street that was lined with shops and restaurants. Alice had told him that they were going for pizza.

"Cars. I mean you'd think that people over here would come up with something a bit more practical."

"Like what, flying mechanical beetles or pink flamingos?"

Hatter thought for a second before answering, "Well, not exactly, but you have to admit that those flamingos were pretty useful."

"Yeah, maybe when we weren't riding them face first into a body of water. Here we are." she replied as they stopped in front of a small building.

Hatter looked at the green sign that was painted above the door, "_Tony's Pizzeria_, this place actually sells food to people?"

Alice laughed a little before answering him, "Yeah. Why? What's wrong with it?"

"I d'know, it just smells a bit like Ratty." he replied looking down at her with a grin.

"Come on," she replied as she snatched the hat off his head before walking into the building.

*********

"I stand corrected, this stuff is amazing." Hatter said before taking a bite of his fifth piece.

"Glad you like it." Alice said with a smile before continuing, "Hatter…how come you never told me that your first name was David?"

Hatter let out a slight laugh before looking at her over his slice, she was serious. With a bit of reluctance he put down the pizza and returned her gaze, "…Because it isn't."

"Okay, then what is it?"

"It's William…and that's the first time I've told that to anyone."

"William…it's so normal." Alice replied with a tilt of her head, Hatter was beginning to realize that she did that whenever she was slightly surprised by something. He thought it was adorable.

"What were you expectin'? Ebenezer?" he laughed before picking up his pizza once more.

"I don't know, it just isn't what I expected. How did you get stuck with David?"

"Jack." Hatter replied simply.

"Should've guessed."

After a few minutes passed, Hatter had his fill of pizza and the waitress came for the tray. Once it was gone Hatter leaned across the small table, "So, how are you feelin'?"

"Me? Good. The hospital wasn't fun, but…but I'm good."

They both looked down. Despite the kiss, or maybe because of it, they weren't sure how to act towards one another. Before the tension that surrounded and filled them allowed for their easy banter to flow, but now it was as if they had solidified something. Their feelings had been acknowledged and actions were taken that they could never take back.

Slowly, Hatter reached out, took one of Alice's hands that she had been resting on the table, and placed it between his. He felt reassured by the contact. As if he were holding her there so that she wouldn't run away when he said what he wanted to say.

As she placed her other hand on top of his he looked up into her eyes and said, "I don't think I've ever felt more…scared than when I saw you-"

"Hey," she cut in with a squeeze of her hand, "I'm fine, thanks to you…..Again."

For the second time, her face neared his as she kissed him sending electricity through him like no other woman had before. And that was something, considering that there had been quite a few women. When she pulled away she took her hands with her, only to place them on his head and mess his hair around.

"Hey, d'you know how long it took me to get it to lay right?" he exclaimed as he gripped her hands and pulled them back down.

"Probably a while, but it looks better like this," she replied with a laugh as she picked up the bill that the waitress had set on the table when she took the tray.

"Hold on, you don't actually believe that I'm gonna let you pay for this, do you?"

"Ah yeah." Alice replied as she fished some bills out of her pocket. While her hands were occupied, Hatter snatched the bill off the table.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked as she looked back at him with the correct amount of money in her hand.

"Payin' the bill."

"Seriously, will it really damage your male ego _that_ much if I pay for the pizza?"

Hatter thought comically for a moment before answering with a simple, "_Yes_,"

"How much money do you have exactly?"

"Enough…I've got two pieces of paper that have twenty written on them with me and the rest is back at Jack's place."

Alice shrugged as she put her money back in her pocket, "Fine."

**********

"Can I ask you something?" Alice asked as they walked out of _Tony's_.

"Have I ever stopped you?"

"Funny."

"I try."

Alice pushed him before she spoke, "You mentioned before that you never told anyone your name, why is that?"

"…Somethings happened a while back and I thought it best not to use it."

"What kinds of things?"

"Alice, can we not talk about this? At least not at this precise moment, please." Hatter said quietly. He didn't exactly want to tell her his life story as they walked down a random city street with strangers circling them.

"…Later?"

"Alright."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, both wanting to burn time before they went back.

"Hey," Alice said as she grabbed his arm so he would stop walking. They happened to be standing in front of a hat store, _Tommy's Tops _to be exact. "Come on."


	12. The Time Warp

**I must point out that Tim Curry is a god among men and therefore most of this chapter was completely necessary. Oh, and if you haven't guessed it, _most_ of the chapter titles are being taken from my playlist of songs that have been on Supernatural lol. Also, reviews are always welcome.  
**

* * *

"Hatter, are you alright?" Alice asked as she walked. At the hat shop Alice had forced Hatter to try on almost every hat in the shop until she found one that she liked. He seemed to enjoy the process well enough, but he looked tired.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he replied. She reckoned that he sounded truthful, but that was the one thing about him, his words seemed to always fit what you wanted to hear but his eyes were the ones that always gave you the truth.

Like she did in front of the hat shop, she pulled him to a stop. They were almost to her apartment by that time and she didn't want to say anything in front of her mother. "Hatter don't lie to me, please." she said as she scanned his face.

"Look Alice-" Hatter mumbled as he turned

"Don't tell me to look." she replied a little harsher then she wanted to, "Sorry, you're just freakin' me out a little bit. If you don't want to do this dinner thing, you don't have to."

"Who said I didn't want to?"

Alice could tell that he meant that, but she still felt like something wasn't right. Silently she took the box with his new hat out of his hands. She took it out of the box and handed it to him. "I didn't buy it for you so it could stay in the box." she said with a grin.

His eyes brightened slightly as he took the hat out of her hands and wiped Jack's off his head. He looked so cute with his messy hair poking out at the end as he placed the new one on his head. "There, how do I look?" he said as he spun for her.

"Fantastic," Alice replied as she took his hand and led him the rest of the way to her apartment.

***************

Hatter could feel Alice next to him while they sat on her couch watching a movie that had just started called, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show…what exactly is this?"

Hatter could tell that Alice was laughing at a joke that he wasn't in on, "Just watch it, will you?"

"Oooook," he replied as he settled more deeply into the cushions, trying to ignore how tired he felt. He sat through lips singing and some square couple singing about how they loved each other. All the time barely keeping his eyes open. As he watched he thought one character looked a little familiar but he wasn't on the TV long enough. A few more minutes passed, time warped, and eventually he understood why Alice was giggling.

"Wait…is that…?" he asked as he looked at her sideways with a bit of incredulous confusion.

"I don't know." she replied as she burst out laughing.

Hatter looked once more at the screen. There was a character that looked awfully like the Dodo wearing women's underwear.

"Well, I didn't know that he had such a set of…pipes." Hatter said as he started to laugh. "I mean, look at 'im, he walks in those heels better than the Duchess does."

He was glad that Alice's mother had decided to leave them alone, stating simply that she didn't like the movie that Alice wanted to watch. It obvious that she had no idea what to think of her daughter's new…whatever he was, but she was still kind enough.

"Alice," he sighed between his laughter. He couldn't help but suck in a shallow breath when he looked at her face which was glowing from laughter. She seemed to do the same thing and before he could rethink it, he kissed her…again.

She responded by wrapping her arms around him and pretty soon the movie was forgotten.

***********

"Shouldn't this be the other way round. I mean it's a bit weird having you walk me home." Hatter asked while they were once again walking down one of the many city streets. Despite the time, Hatter noticed there was a good amount of people out.

"But we were already at my home, wouldn't it defeat the purpose?"

"Maybe, but still wouldn't it just be easier if I got a taxi or whatever."

"So what you could spend your last five dollars?" she responded with her serious look. Hatter was surprised by how fast he was getting to know her, to really know her. Small changes in her expressions spoke volumes to him.

"Dollars? Is that what they're called?"

"Yeah, at least in this country."

"Hmm, that's interesting."

"I'm sure, anyway I wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew you had been walking these dangerous streets at night without your big strong protector."

"Well, if you're worried. Where is he anyway?"

"He's me." Alice replied with a laugh as she took his arm.

"Alice are you trying to tell me something? Are you secretly a man? Just be honest or this could get extremely awkward."

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you knew. The Dodo has taught me everything he knows."

"Ah," Hatter sighed as he put his arm around her, "The student has surpassed the teacher. You make a prettier woman than he does. Though he has you trumped with the whole 12'' heels thing."

"Is that right?"

"Yep, sorry."

"You should see me on Saturdays." she replied and they both started to laugh.

_This is easy_, Hatter thought as they walked. They fit. Everything around him felt perfect at that moment and every moment she had spent with him felt the same way and he had a feeling that that wasn't going to change.

Unless of course a few guys try to mug you, it kind of ruins the moment.

As they walked along, they passed in front on an alley which three guys walked out of. Hatter tried to pull Alice away discreetly but he was too late.

"Nice night," the shortest one said to no one in particular. As the three of them grouped around the couple.

"Yeah, though I could use a drink." replied one of the guys next to him, Hatter wasn't entirely sure which.

"Do you want to pay for our drinks?" the shortest one asked and since he was looking at Hatter, Hatter assumed that he was being spoken to as well.

"Sorry mate, I haven't got any money," he replied as he felt Alice tighten her grip on his arm.

"That so, to bad. What about you sweet heart?" he asked Alice as he pulled out a pocket knife, "You got any money?"

"Sorry, he's cleaned me out." she said as she let go of his arm. Hatter had a feeling that she was getting ready for a fight.

"Better luck next time." Hatter mumbled as he tried to move forward. He thought that maybe if he took the two guys at the front Alice could handle the one guy at the rear.

Hatter took one step only to be pushed backward by the larger of the two men in front of him. That's when he swung. His trusty right arm connected sure enough, but something was definitely wrong. The guy was still on his feet, dazed but standing.

"Oh hey guys how 'bout we-" he started only to stop because he had to dodge a punch from the shorter man. He could hear as Alice began kicking the ass of the guy behind them.

He held his own for a bit against the two of them until the larger guy got a clear shot, "Ow," Hatter groaned as he hit the pavement.

Alice, having finished with her guy, came over and karate chopped the shorter man in the neck, sending him to his knees. Hatter took that moment to kick at the taller guys legs, causing him to do the same.

After that the three men darted back down the alley from whence they came. Alice quietly helped Hatter to his feet, he was extremely happy and slightly jealous to see that she didn't have a single mark on her.

"Oh, thank goodness my big strong protector was here to save me." he sighed as she put his arm around her neck and helped him home.


	13. Looking Back

**I don't know why, but I very happy with how this turned out. =D  
**

* * *

"I've brought you something," Chess said as she walked into the Queen's room.

Though it wasn't exactly what she was used to, the Queen was perfectly comfortable with the small bed that the girl had provided…. Actually, the springs stuck up in the middle, but she thought it best not to mention it.

"A present? Dear girl, you really didn't have to do such a thing for me." the Queen replied humbly, but she was still eager to know what Chess had brought her.

Chess grinned as she left the room with the Queen hot on her heels. The girl had been out forwarding their plans while the Queen waited. She was the figure head while Chess seemed to be comfortable with the dirty work.

"It was really no trouble. He's as much a present for me as he is for you, and trust me this wouldn't be happening otherwise." Chess said as she reached the door to a room that the Queen had never entered, which wasn't really a shock because the Queen had only ever been in her room and the throne room.

As the door opened the Queen walked in only to be greeted by the sight of a mangled headless body on the table in front of her. "What is this?"

"Oh, why my queen, don't you recognize the body of your once prized henchmen? Actually I should think not," Chess said with a laugh, "I mean he's lost a few things since you've last seen him, but don't worry Mad Marchy may have fallen but I'm sure I can put him back together again. But maybe this time without a cookie jar for a head."

Ignoring the state of the body in front of her the Queen clapped delightedly. It wasn't everyday she got such a wonderful present. "Why my dear, this is excellent! Where did you find him?"

"In the wreckage of your Casino. Considering where he was, pulling him out was no easy task. So, one or two people may have gotten a limb torn off to reach him, but with his abilities and…connections…oh he's just worth a lot more than they were."

Despite this little piece of information, the Queen could barely keep herself from jumping with joy.

* * *

"Ow!" Hatter yelped as Alice popped his shoulder back into place, he hadn't even realized that it was dislocated until they got to the apartment.

"Stop being such a baby!"

"I'm sorry, but if you haven't noticed I'm the one with the injuries!" Hatter replied as he stood, Alice had been tending to him while he sat at the tiny table in the kitchen. He tried moving his arm around, but it still ached with every movement.

"Maybe we should, you know, take you to the hospital." Alice said as she followed him into the living room with an ace bandage, "Or I don't know, we could call the police."

"Maybe we shouldn't…do either of those things. Yeah, I think that plan sounds great." Hatter mumbled as he fell onto the couch with Alice taking the seat next to him.

"Why are you so against doing anything that might actually be helpful at the moment?"

"Because doing any of that might raise questions that I can't exactly answer."

"Fine." Alice replied as she took his arm, using more strength than she intended, or at least that was what Hatter was hoping. "What the hell happened back there Hatter?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you."

"Well why didn't you like, knock those guys out? I've seen you do more with just one punch. Are your Hulk powers not working?"

"Hulk powers?"

"He's a superhero."

"Yeah, I know." he said with a pained laugh as he watched Alice as she examined him.

"I didn't think they had comic books in Wonderland."

"They don't, well not really anyway, we just had the stolen ones that ended up in the library after they were taken off the new arrivals and then taken back by the resistance….Wait a second, you think I'm a superhero?"

Alice blushed slightly before answering, "Yes, I think you're a big green superhero with anger management issues."

Hatter nodded his head, "Well, its better than nothin' I suppose."

When she was done wrapping his arm, Alice took a moment to examine his head. Immediately she brushed against a nasty bump, causing Hatter to suck in a breath between his teeth.

"Hold on a second, I'll go get ice." Alice said once she made sure that it was just a bump and nothing more serious. She was only gone for a moment before she returned with a cloth filled with ice. "Okay," she started as she placed the ice on his head sending shivers down his spine before he grabbed it from her, "Now that I have you at my mercy, how about we talk about the whole name thing?"

"Now? But I thought we could take advantage of this whole naughty nurse thing that you have goin' on. You have to admit, it's a much better alternative." he replied with a grin and raised eyebrows.

"You know if you weren't already beaten to a pulp, I'd probably kick your ass."

"I don't think I would mind very much, to be honest."

"Could you please stop dancing around the question Hatter?…I mean you know enough about me, but I don't know a single thing about you that hasn't been twisted." Alice replied in a voice so loud that she was almost shouting at him.

Hatter took a moment and just looked at her. She trusted him because of what he did in Wonderland despite the huge red warning signs that were staring her in the face. He realized that it was about time he went out on that limb as well. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he was just scared, whether he truly wanted to admit it or not.

"Alright, just don't stop me." Hatter said as he turned his body so that he was facing her, "When I was a kid it was just me and me mum….I never knew my father. She would move us around all the time with absolutely no explanation whatsoever. And that's a hard thing to do ya see because, as you probably noticed, Wonderland isn't exactly like here. Outside the main city, towns are just completely scattered. Houses are nothin' more than wooden shacks, despite whatever technology the Queen has at her disposal….When I was about thirteen we settled in some random village in the woods somewhere, I doubt I'd be able to find it now….Me mum always acted as though something were following us, but she never said what, so it didn't really phase me when she would tell me to go off somewhere and hide until she found me….But that last time it was different….It must've been about midnight when the lights outside my window woke me….The entire village was on fire…"

"Oh my God." Alice whispered as she took his hand. He could tell that whatever it was that she had been expecting wasn't this.

" People were just dyin' everywhere." he started again and after a breath he gently let go of Alice's hand, got to his feet, and walked across the room. "…She told me to run, so I did, but not after a row. I guess that's just how it is with me….Anyway, I ran and hid just as she told me, but this time I found a place where I could watch what was happenin'….I saw as my mother picked up a sword and fought for her life….She was amazing, but there was just too many."

Slowly he turned to face her silent figure. He was surprising himself, after years of expecting tears when he finally spoke these words his face was completely dry. Though it felt like some sort of relief to get this off his chest, Hatter couldn't help but notice that he felt numb. "…For a moment or two, after the men got a hold of her, she seemed to be talkin' to someone, but I couldn't really see…. Then she just," he paused hoping that Alice would get the point, "I rushed to her side once the men who had attacked the village were gone….The last thing she ever told me to do was run and I've been doin' it ever since….I changed everything about me; including my name, but I never forgot….I looked out for myself. I made sure to never make real ties to people, I never really wanted to anyway….not until you."

Once the words left his mouth, Alice wasted no time in coming to him. She held him, putting his head to her shoulder. Hatter felt oddly small there in her embrace, but he didn't mind. Minutes passed until Hatter forgot how long they had been standing there. He just lost himself in her; in her scent, her touch, her warmth.

Gently she pulled away from him. He held her at arms length and just stared at her. "Come on." she whispered as she took his hand and led him into the bedroom. They didn't do anything physical, they weren't there yet, but it was enough for both of them just to have their arms around each other as they fell asleep.


	14. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

**This is my longest chapter so far lol.** **Thanks for all the reviews guys, please keep'em comin'.**

* * *

_He was tired, so utterly tired. _

_He had been running__ through the forest__ for days. He hadn't eaten and for him sleep had become a luxury. The only objects he had on him were the clothes on his back and the only thing that he possessed of his father's was clenched in his hand, an old hat._

_Without realizing it, he once again tripped over something in his path. As he had done many times before, he let a harsh string of obscenities escape his lips as he got to his feet. At that moment he heard something he had been fearing for days, a human voice._

"_Hey kid," a man's strangely accented voice said before Hatter could turn to face him. Afraid that he might turn only to face nothing, Hatter took a moment to build up the courage before performing the act. An odd relief passed through him when he saw that the man was in fact solid and standing a few feet from him. _

"_Jeez kid, where the hell did you come from, huh?" the man said as he looked Hatter over. "You look like ya crawled outta the underworld or somethin'." _

_A few minutes passed before the man starting coming toward Hatter. He looked normal enough; short brown hair, dark eyes, tan skin, and a rather large sent of front teeth, but he had an air about him that made Hatter uneasy. _

"_Name's March. Mad March ta some. How 'bout you kid, you gotta name?" Mad March asked as he paused in front of Hatter. The man waited for him to speak as he shifted the heavy hunting rifle that he had been carrying from one shoulder to the other, but Hatter did not comply. "Not much for talkin' I guess….Hows about you come on back to the city with me and I'll get you set up with a thing or two? You look like you need a hand kid and there's very few people worth trustin' out there in the big world, but I think I may just be the man for you….I ain't saying I'm gonna do this for free, but nothin' is exactly free these days is it?"_

_Hatter was quickly beginning to suspect that Mad March was going to pull him from this forest whether he wanted to leave or not. _

"_Come on kid, I'll put some food in ya and then we can see what you're worth."_

"_Hatter," Hatter mumbled as Mad March took him by the arm._

"_What's that?"_

"_Call me Hatter." he replied as he placed his father's hat on his head._

**************

"Aah," Hatter gasped as he opened his eyes. A sharp pain in his right arm had dragged him out of his dreams, not that he minded much. As swiftly and gently as possible, Hatter disentangled himself from Alice and headed to the small bathroom that his new bedroom contained.

Once the light was on, Hatter looked down at his arm. On the outside there didn't appear to be anything wrong, but there was a throbbing in his veins that Hatter couldn't ignore, especially since it was getting worse.

"Alice," Hatter said as loudly as he could before he sank to his knees.

************

She had felt him leave the bed but being that they were, you know, human Alice figured that he just needed to well….but once she heard him call her name she jumped out of the bed and went to him.

"Hatter!" Alice yelled as when she opened the bathroom door and saw him on the floor. "What's happening to you?!"

She was kneeling beside him now. She was able to see that there was most definitely something wrong. He looked completely exhausted, almost like he had been awake for about a month despite the fact that he had just woken up. Hatter was also clutching his right hand to his chest.

This was the weirdest thing of all. His right arm was covered in dark lines as if his very blood were turning black.

"Alice," he whispered, his voice filled with pain that scared Alice more than she would ever be able to admit.

"Hatter, tell me what to do." she said as she looked at him with eyes that she knew mirrored the fear in his. Wanting to provide whatever sort of comfort she could, Alice wrapped her arms around his waist and helped Hatter to his feet before leading him back to the bed.

"Get Jack." he said. The look on his face told her how much he hated what he had just said.

"Get Jack?! Get Jack how?" she replied as she knelt in front of where he sat at the edge on the bed.

"There's a mirror, by the door. It's like a phone or somethin'."

"Okay," Alice mumbled as she got to her feet and ran a hand through her hair, "How does it work?"

"No idea," Hatter groaned as he leaned back.

"Great…I'll figure something out I guess."

*************

"What makes you think, that if you get the ring and open the Looking Glass, that the Hatter will return? He's there in that other world with that….tart." the Queen asked Chess as they went over their strategy. With the promise of an abundance of human emotion once the portal was reopened, people flocked to the image of their old ruler. It was almost too easy to get them hooked again on the small amount of emotion that still existed in Wonderland.

"Because he has to. He cannot survive in her world. His body may have already started to turn against him." Chess replied between orders to the men in her human guard.

She was a strange creature the Queen thought. She looked almost human, but Chess seemed to despise humans unless they could help her further her plans. The Queen had spent enough time with the girl to know that once she was back on the throne, Chess could no longer be allowed to exist. At the moment they had a symbiotic relationship, they needed each other, but the Queen knew that once she got what she wanted Chess would turn on her as sure as a Jabberwock on a hot day. Thinking ahead, the Queen also knew that she now had enough followers to act proactively and end Chess before she did the same to her.

"Really now? Why is that, I wonder? He's a human as sure as the rest that have gone through the portal. Why would it be any different for him?"

Chess turned on her with a look of annoyance, "Dear Queen, please do not trouble your tiny mind with things you do not understand. The Hatter is not all that he appears to be. Leave it at that before your confusion destroys our plans."

"My lady, we have found the old man as you asked." a young man said with some urgency as he approached Chess, his pride and nerves clear on his face.

"Well, don't just stand there you dunce, bring him in." Chess said with authority as she continued to stare at the papers in front of her.

Barely a minute passed as the people in the throne room worked before the young man returned with others, including a battered old man in the rusty armor of a white knight.

"Get your hands off me, you sniveling cretins! Do you know who I am?! I am the White Knight! I shall call upon the abyss and the might of the heavens shall rain down upon you." he said as he struggled against him.

"Don't!" Chess snapped as she vanished from the Queen's side, a breath later she appeared in front of the old man, "Do not continue with your lies here, old man. I know that you are not what you say you are. Be glad, because if you were truly a knight, you'd be dead before you took your next breath."

"You," Charlie sighed as he looked upon Chess with fear in his eyes and a quiver in his beard. "…I thought you demons were wiped out long ago."

"Ah," Chess sighed with a smile as she walked in a circle around him, "Seeing you, sweet Squire, brings back memories of the old times. Take him to the dungeons." she said with a wave of her hand.

Before returning the her plans she called after the retreating men, "Be weary, Squire, for I may come visit you to…reminisce."

**************

"God damn it!" Alice yelled at the mirror. She had been examining it for about ten minutes, but she still had know idea how to use it. She was tempted to smash the thing to pieces, but that definitely wouldn't help the situation.

Quickly, she rose from the couch to replace it on the wall. She decided to try the easiest thing she could think of, though she had already done it to no avail, but maybe this time someone would hear her.

"Jack! Jack Heart!" she yelled at the mirror as it hung on the wall, not really caring that the occupants of the apartments around her might very well call the police.

To her surprise, a face appeared in the glass before her, but it wasn't Jack's.

"May I help you?" asked a confused looking Club. His face was in the middle of the glass surrounded by the blur of time passing around him.

"Thank you," she replied to no one in particular, "Yes, I need to speak to the King. Tell him that…Hatter is sick."

"Ummm, I'm sorry to inform you, but the King is busy at the moment."

"He's not busy enough to talk to me."

"But mama-"

"Go get him now, or so help me God, I will find away back into Wonderland and finding you will be on the top of my list, followed by 'use deadly force.'" Alice said in a turn of phrase that was really not like her.

Looking Alice over, the Club decided that he valued his life and left to get Jack who appeared on the glass a moment later. His tired face smiling at her.

"Alice sweetheart, I really don't have too much time to spare at the moment."

"Can it Jack. What the hell is happening to Hatter and how can I stop it?"

Jack shook his head with a sigh before muttering, "He's half human despite whatever else he is, this shouldn't be happening this fast."

"What?"

"Nothing…it's just, the only way to help him now is to have him return to Wonderland."

"Great, that shouldn't be too hard." Alice replied with relief.

"Alice, the Looking Glass is closed-"

"So open it."

"It's not that simple."

"Why not? Just do whatever it is that you do with that stupid ring."

Alice was in a hurry and she couldn't help it that her pissed off level was off the charts, especially when it looked as though Jack was struggling to keep from rolling his eyes, "He hasn't told you."

"God Jack, whatever he hasn't told me doesn't really matter until he's okay."

"Alice, it isn't safe in Wonderland. The Queen has escaped. She's working with something that I've never seen before and I cannot risk removing the ring from where it's hidden, not now. It could destroy everything."

"Then there has to be something else I can do." Alice said as she fought back the tears that had begun to sting her eyes. She would not let Hatter die; not now, not ever.

"I am sorry, Alice. If there is another way, I don't know it."

Gathering up more confidence than she felt, Alice decided to speak the only words that could possibly have any affect on the situation. "Jack, you're the reason why this is happening to us. You brought both Hatter and I into this with your lies. And if you ever loved me you will do this for me, because if he does die... part of me dies with him."

Jack looked at her through the void, his face stoic, "So that's how it is then?"

"That's how it is."

With a heavy breath Jack said, "Take him to the Looking Glass, I'll send someone through when it's opened. Though, Alice I can't promise you anything."

"Thanks Jack."


	15. Hot Blooded

**If anyone was wondering how exactly to picture Chess, think Illyria from Angel but purple instead of blue lol.**

* * *

"Sir, we can't hold them for much longer." Number 10 said to the King as his majesty paced back and forth in the small throne room of the old building, "We have to get you out through one of the escape passages."

"What are you talking about? You told me that the lines would hold!" the King replied in a voice of panicked authority that frightened Number 10 more than the zombie like hordes that had already dispatched the small militia that had been guarding the gates and were now trying break through the barriers of stone that surrounded the building. After weeks of nothing, it seemed as though the first thing their enemies had done was raid the bio hazard plants to attain the small amount of tea that had yet to be destroyed, before coming here.

"Your Majesty, there are more of them than we prepared for. You know what will happen if-"

"I know!…Its good to see that you have some form of honor Number 10, but we must not leave without the ring. If they get their hands on it then all will be lost. Wonderland, as we know it, will fall to ruin." the King spoke those last words with a certainty that sent shivers down the spine of each man that was standing in that room.

"There is not enough time for you to retrieve it, it is to risky." Number 10 said, almost to himself, but he wasn't blind to the King's stare, "I will get it for you sir. Just please, get out of here. If you don't see me within a few minutes, I beg you to run your majesty." Number 10 pleaded with his leader.

The new King was so much more than his mother was. He offered free will, choice. Where the Queen of Hearts sought control and power, the King sought peace and justice. He achieved respect as opposed to demanding it.

"Are you suggesting that I flee? Leave the people of Wonderland to whatever their fate might be under this new evil? That I-" Jack asked cutting himself off, but his tone was still commanding as the other suits in the room looked around in slight confusion. The King looked troubled by more than he was letting on.

"No sir, I'm not asking you to flee, I begging you to survive….They know they cannot achieve complete control if you are still out there. If you cannot be here, you must be a beacon elsewhere for those who have always fought as you have."

The King looked his reformed and trusted adviser over as he thought about what he must do. "You're right….You know where to go. If you do not meet us at the rendezvous point in 20 minutes, we will have no choice but to leave without you." the King paused before adding, "Don't take away that choice Number 10. Wonderland is counting on you."

"As it is on you sir." Number 10 replied before turning to his men, "Get him out of here." and walking out into the hall.

He followed the path toward the ring through his memory, being careful not to take a wrong turn that would end in with him trapped without enough time to complete his mission. The King was meticulous in his planning of hiding the ring. He knew that it could never be on him in case something should happen and he also knew that it had to be close at hand. So the decision to hide it within the maze like bowels of this small castle like building, that stood on the outskirts of Wonderland's most populous city, was almost a no brainer. It had been hidden in this place from the moment the last oyster went through the Looking Glass. Very few people knew of its location, Number 10 was lucky to be one of those people.

A turn here, a door there, and within moments he was in the hidden chamber. The Stone of Wonderland sat in the middle of the room surrounded by a force field that could only be opened from one of the five computer terminals that were contained in the room. Should the wrong terminal or password be used the ring would be locked off, by solid diamond, from the rest of the world. Number 10 was tempted to do just that, but he knew that the ring was a needed weapon. He knew that the King needed it quickly even though he hadn't told Number 10 why.

Hearing a crash above him, Number 10 rushed over to terminal 4 and began typing the password, knowing that the building had been breached.

C-A-R-R-O-L-L, Number 10 had absolutely no idea why the King had chosen this particular password, but once the keys were typed and the enter button tapped, he watched as the force field that looked like rain disappeared and the ring was free.

As if time itself had stopped, Number 10 felt himself move toward the center of the room and the ring that had been fought for by so many. Reaching up, he clasped his hand around the tiny object that could decide to fate of the nation.

Suddenly, Number 10 felt a white hot pain like nothing he had ever felt before. It was as if someone had reached through him and grabbed his beating heart. Though his back was to it, he could feel as the demon became solid, the heady sent of it filled his head as he felt himself slipping.

Whatever it was kept his heart beating while its other violet clad hand opened the one that he was so tightly gripping the ring with, almost as if it was taking the rattle from a newborn. Before taking the ring a feminine voice spoke, "It has been so long since I've seen it," she whispered, "but the Stone never ceases in its beauty….You humans are so blind, you think your technology and mazes will keep me from what I desire. Well you're wrong, the very things that you use to shield it from me are the very reason why I was able to take it. You have forgotten the old ways and in your arrogance, you have brought this world to ruin. You are parasites that take from and destroy everything around you."

Number 10 gasped with what little he had left as she turned him toward her. Whatever vice had been around his heart use removed as he looked upon the strange and savage beauty of the creature that had hold of him. Her violet eyes bore their way into his as she took the ring from his hand.

"Your kind have taken everything from me," she whispered with a passion filled smile, "It's about time I take it back." And with that she took Number 10's face into her bloodied hand. Number 10 could feel the shape of the ring as it was pressed into the skin of his cheek. Barely holding onto the smallest tendrils of consciousness, he watched as she bought her mouth to his. She was kissing him and as it was happening he could feel, as if it was wine pouring out of a bottle, his life flowing into her.

********

Just before he was completely gone, Chess forced her hand back into Number 10's chest and pulled out his heart as she watched the light fade from his eyes. Softly she tossed it across the room as she let his dead weight fall to the floor. Without dropping the ring, she bent down and wiped the warm blood off her hands with the folds of his robes. As she righted herself she looked down at the small object in her hand with a grin.

"Check," she whispered before she walked out of the tiny dungeon leaving the body of Number 10 behind her.


	16. Like A Prayer

**:-)**

* * *

"Hatter!" he heard Alice yell through the fog in his head. "Hey, hey, hey, Hatter come on! Come back!"

"Alice," he whispered through his dry throat. What was happening to him?

"Oh thank God." Alice breathed a sigh of relief as she placed a glass on the nightstand before sitting down at his feet. He could feel as she began to put his shoes on.

"We goin' somewhere?" he mumbled as he tried to sit up. The pain running through him was almost unbearable, but he fought through it for no other reason than the woman in front of him.

"Yeah…yeah, I've gotta get you back to Wonderland. I guess my world isn't exactly agreeing with you." she replied when she was done with his shoes. "Here drink this." she mumbled as she put the glass to his lips, he was more than happy to comply. The cool water was soothing to his dry throat.

When the glass was empty, she moved away from him and he could hear as she quickly changed back into her clothes, he had lent her one of Jack's shirts to sleep in. Soon she was back by his side helping him to his feet with her gentle but firm grip.

As Hatter opened his eyes he saw that she was supporting his left side as if avoiding his right. He was grateful for it because like any fire this one had a point of origin, where it burned the brightest and destroyed the most, his right arm was it.

They were almost out the door when he noticed something, "Wait," he said with as much force as he could.

"Seriously? Hatter we have to go."

He moved away from her toward the hat stand in the corner, "I'm not leavin' without this." he replied as he grabbed the hat she had bought him. He placed it on his head as he turned to her with the best grin he could muster. He felt himself sway slightly, but Alice quickly wrapped an arm around him before he fell. They were out the door seconds later.

****************

"Where the hell is Number 10?" the King demanded of everyone yet no one.

"Sir, he's forty minutes late. Perhaps its time we journey on…?" a young 9 of clubs said, Jack could hear the murmurs of agreement of the fellow suits. They were out in the forest next to a cluster of very distinct trees. They were the bright red of an apple and with their orange leaves it appeared as though that part of the wood was on fire with the sun setting on the horizon. So, their fire went unnoticed.

The deadline had long past but Jack was still reluctant to move forward. No matter how much he hated him, or how much he was jealous of him, he knew he owed Hatter. He owed Alice this one thing above all others and without the ring he couldn't give it to her.

"Alright," he let out a heavy sigh, he knew that there was still one thing he could do. Number 10 had failed and if the creature that his mother was using had gotten the ring, he could try his damnedest to stop it from opening the Looking Glass. "Get the men together and send out a messenger or two. I'll give them the name's of the locations where they can find former resistance leaders. Hopefully they're all still on our side."

"Sir…what is your plan?" Number 9 asked as the head of the group of men around him.

"…We will go to the Looking Glass and we'll try to stop whatever it is that they're trying to do."

**************

"Alice…could we…just stop….Just for a second." Hatter mumbled with a heavy breath. They had gotten a taxi and they were now walking down the almost deserted alleyway passed the gelato shop on the corner of Alice's apartment building.

"We can't Hatter. We're almost there…sort of." Alice couldn't remember exactly where she was going. The night that she followed the White Rabbit to the Looking Glass, she wasn't really concerned with watching where she put her feet. And now under immense stress and Hatter's weight, she was a little lost. "Just hold on, okay?"

"Yeah, alright…but I'm not promisin' anythin'." he replied sarcastically with a slight laugh. _Of course, Hatter __**would**__ be the type to make fun of this situation_, Alice thought to herself as she pulled Hatter's arm tighter around her neck.

"Hello miss, you got any change?" a homeless man called as they passed. He was standing near a fire that was blazing in an old trash can.

"No sorry," she sighed heavily in return.

"Your friend doesn't look so hot miss, maybe you should be goin' in the other direction. There ain't nothin' that can help him this way, at least nothin' for a few miles."

_Maybe_, "Yeah thanks for that. This may sound a little weird…okay maybe a lot weird, but have you by any chance seen a huge mirror in any of these buildings?"

"I'm not sure, maybe some change would help clear my memory?" the homeless man replied as he approached the pair, the smell of him wafting in the air around them.

"Subtle," Hatter whispered into Alice's ear.

"Ummmm," Alice was searching her pockets almost helplessly because she thought that she had spent the last of her money on the cab. This whole thing would've been a lot easier if she had brought her purse. "Ahhhh here," she said as she handed him 50 cents. Though she could barely see him in the dim light of the fire, she could see the odd glow of satisfaction in his eyes. It confused her a little because there isn't exactly much that you can do with 50 cents.

"Come on, I'll take ya to it, but I don't see how its gonna do him any good."

"Oh trust me," Hatter replied, it seemed that he was sick of being treated as though he wasn't there…or unconscious. "There's loads of good that that mirror can do me."

"Guess I've heard stranger things." the bum said as he started to walk. It took a few minutes, many of them due to Alice struggling to get Hatter to walk up stairs, but they were eventually in front of the Looking Glass…and no one was waiting for them.

"Thanks," Alice said as she led Hatter over to a wall so he could sit down. The fact that no one was there to meet them was freaking her out.

"I would've tried sellin' this thing, but I can't get it to move for some reason….Oh well, I hope everythin' works out for ya Hatter."

"How did you-" Alice started before she was cut of by Hatter.

"Ratty," he said as he took his black hat off his head and tilted it back until it touched the cool cement wall, "I should've known….you've got a very distinctive smell."

"How did you get here?" Alice asked absentmindedly as she walked up to the mirror. The glass was cool and solid. Fear, like she had never known passed through her, she was going to lose him.

"I don't know if tellin' you is the best idea-"

"How did you get here Ratty?!" Alice yelled, her voice a plea as she walked back to him and took him by his raggedy collar.

"I snuck through!" he whimpered as he twitched away from her grip, "…When they were sending the oysters back, I snuck through and ended up here. Its not great but its better than what was startin' to happen over there in Wonderland."

"This isn't right." she muttered letting him go, Ratty quickly ran away from her and out of the mirror room.

"Well that's a relief." he said right before he let out another gasp of pain taking his arm to his chest. He looked terrible. The lines that had barely traced his arm, before they left the apartment, now stood out against the few still white patches of his skin. Whatever it was seemed to be making its way through him, destroying everything it touched…or left. She wasn't entirely sure which it was.

"Hatter," she whispered as she made her way to him from across the room. She took a seat next to him and once she was there he put his head to her chest and she wrapped her arms around him.

"You know…pillows would be really nice at the moment…but these'll do just fine."

Alice couldn't help but laugh through the tears that she hadn't realized were flowing. Even now he seemed to want to make her feel better. To make her happy even though he was the one suffering.

"Yeah well…you're not falling asleep away. Someone will come soon and it will be really awkward if I have to tickle you awake."

"Is…is that a challenge?"

"Maybe."

Slowly he lifted his head to look up at her. Her blue eyes looked into his brown ones, but not before noticing how flushed he looked. He brought he fingers to his cheek to wipe away a stray tear before he brought her face down to his.

Before their lips met, Hatter just whispered her name, like a prayer. At first it was a gentle kiss, but it quickly turned passionate as Alice kissed Hatter like her life depended on it, on him, even though it was the other way around.

When he pulled away, Hatter laid his head back on Alice's chest. She felt as his breath slow.

"Hatter!" she said as she shook him slightly, but no response came. "No, no, no, No!" Hatter, you can't! Not yet, I just found you." the last part came out as a whisper as she held him tighter then she had ever held anything as she buried her face in his dark hair.

He was still breathing, but just barely, and Alice didn't know what to do. She was lost, her hope was gone. Jack had failed her and she didn't know why.

A few moments passed until Alice heard a strange sound. It was like metal bending and coming together. When she looked up she saw a familiar face that made her heart stop.

She watched as the suit looked the two of them over and came to them before saying, "Come on, there may still be time to save him."

Alice struggled to her feet. Adrenaline burst through her as she pulled Hatter up with her. She had no idea why the suit had wasn't helping her, but she thought it best not to argue as she practically dug Hatter over to the Looking Glass. With Hatter tightly held in her grasp she took one last look behind her before stepping through…Number 10 right behind her.


	17. All Right Now or Not

**I would've gotten this out earlier, but some things came up recently, and well...its not as good as I would've liked it to be but I hope you like it anyway.**

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_This was a mistake_, Chess thought to herself as she struggled with forces that she thought she understood. Her soldiers surrounded her, throwing words at her, concerns. Though she couldn't respond away, she didn't really care. She didn't need their human sadness or worry, but she had made a mistake. She had taken the suit's essence, his form, so she could send through someone familiar almost trustworthy, if they believed that he had transferred allegiance to the King, _like a coward_, which he did. She would've used the squire, but she had uses for him and the suit was almost readily available. But this felt different, wrong, tiring. Her mind, her body were all wearing too thin too quickly. She should've known that if she couldn't physically cross into the human world that she wouldn't be able to do it mentally either.

Two solid figures fell out of the Looking Glass, a girl carrying the prize. They were followed by a figment. The phantom form of a once living man. Suddenly he disappeared and like a rubber band snapping back into place, Chess gasped as part of her consciousness snapped back into her.

She fell back and warm human hands caught her. If she wasn't so weak she would've let her arrogant self to over to deny the help of such a squirming, warm, smelly thing, but as it were she was almost spent so she let the arms enfold her.

"My lady, what do you want us to do?" he asked as the others stared at her in turn. That's another thing she should've known; high human's are not every intelligent.

In a most human reaction, she could feel herself as she rolled her eyes, "Bring me the man you idiots, or all this was for nothing!" One the words left her mouth she was gripped by more hands and carried out of the Hall. Being unable to walk she would need a carriage ride home. It was regretful, to say the least. She wanted to open her new toy right at that very moment, but her health must be her top priority. After all, she was all that she had…for now.

***************

"Hatter!" Alice yelled as she stumbled down the stairs. All in all it was a much better landing then when she had first entered Wonderland. She landed on her knees and a small amount of pain passed through her because of the hard marble floor, but she didn't care Hatter was the main issue. She had felt his small breaths against her as they fell through the Looking Glass but she wasn't sure if this would really work, if he was strong enough.

Number 10's disappearance barely registered because she was too wrapped in the sight that she was seeing. It was working. She could see as the blackness of his arm lessened. His cheeks lost their redness and she could practically feel his temperature coming down. She ignored everything around them as she saw him open his dark eyes.

"Hey," she whispered as she wiped a stray piece of damp hair off his forehead, "Welcome back."

"Nice to be back," he replied with a weary grin as Alice helped him sit up. They were both quickly becoming aware that they were not alone.

Despite this fact, or maybe because they were immensely out numbered anyway, Alice wasted no time in wrapping her arms around Hatter in the tightest hug she could manage. "Thank God you're alright. I was so scared."

Hatter pulled away and held her at arms length, "Alice I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"What are you apologizing for? Its not like you planed to almost die." Alice replied as they both got to their feet. She didn't know who the men around them were, but she knew that they weren't anything good.

"Yeah but I got you all freaked out and everythin'."

"Of course I was freaked out, what did you expect?"

"Are we really arguin' about this?…Look Alice, I-"

"Alright that's enough of the happy reunion crap." one of the men said, cutting into whatever it was that Hatter was going to say. Immediately they both went on the defensive only to be met with the clicking metal sound of dozens of guns pointed in their direction.

"Well this can't be good," Hatter muttered as we stepped in front of Alice, she was both slightly annoyed and warmed by what seemed to be his constant need to protect her. She could handle herself, and he knew that, but her heart swelled at the sight of what he was willing to risk for her.

"What do you want?" Alice ventured from behind Hatter as they slowly moved backward up the stairs to the Looking Glass.

"Enough with the questions. Gas'em they'll be easier to transport that way…and make sure you don't hurt'em. We don't want to piss 'er off." the same man said to those who seemed to be under his command as he started to move to the back of the group.

Suddenly the doors of the hall burst open and men poured out of them. A few carried guns and the rest carried anything else that could've been made into a weapon. They weren't much to look at, but they caused enough commotion to distract the half wit, but heavily armed, bad guys from their mission.

"Alice," Hatter said turning to look at the device next to the Looking Glass before looking at Alice. "The ring is still in, go back."

"What?!" she yelled back in response, partly because of the battle noises going on behind her, but mainly because of what he was implying.

"Go back to your world! You're not goin' to get stuck here because of me."

"What are you talking about? I'm not just gonna leave you here…not after everything."

Hatter paused, she had a feeling that he sensed defeat but he wasn't going to give up just yet. "Have you always been this difficult? Or do I just have this affect on you?"

Alice knew he was worried and that he didn't want her to get hurt, but what he didn't seem to realize is that she felt the same way, "Hatter, I am not leaving." she said firmly.

"Alice-" Hatter started only to be cut off as a man came up behind him. He turned just in time to get a face full of some sort of gas.

"Hatter!" Alice yelled as he fell back into her arms taking them both to the ground. Before she could do anything to defend herself their attacker sprayed the same substance in her face as well. Though she fought it, the toxin quickly took over and a moment later Alice collapsed over Hatter.

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**I do love my cliffhangers lol ;-).**


	18. Ironic

**I try to avoid breaks in updates, but they just seem to happen sometimes lol. Again, thanks for all the positive reviews they are greatly appreciated.**

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The fact that he was laying down was the first thing that registered to Hatter as he regained consciousness. It was a slow but sure process. He vaguely remembered coming back to Wonderland after enduring the most painful thing he had ever experienced in his life. He also remembered that something had happened in the Looking Glass hall, but his mind was still a bit sketchy on the details.

When he opened his eyes he was greeted by one of the worst sights he could think of.

"Oh good your finally conscious." Jack muttered as he looked down at Hatter from the foot of what was apparently Hatter's cot. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been ripped apart by a rampaging Jabberwock, how d'you think I feel?" Hatter replied as he pulled himself up into a sitting position, while sucking in a hissing breath because of the pain that he received from a headache that felt as though it was caused by a spiked tea too many.

_Somethings not right_, he thought to himself as he looked around the tent he was in before resting his eyes on an anxious looking Jack, "How did I end up here with you people? And where's Alice?"

"Our numbers overwhelmed the enemy and we were able to fight them off long enough to get you back…. I would like to inform you that we have a spy on the inside, so events are as under control as we can get them, but you must understand that retrieving you was our top priority."

Hatter paused for a second before repeating his last question, "Where's Alice?"

************

"Good to see you up and about child. I hope that you're feeling well?" the Queen said as Chess entered the cool throne room with her arms raised above her head in a yawn.

"Fantastic," she muttered in return as she took her place on her favorite chair, "Tell the men to bring Hatter to me. I think its time that I meet him, don't you?"

"Oh yes, about that" the Queen started before pausing to actually think about what she was about to say, "Well…I'll just let one of the men tell you."

*************

Alice was vaguely aware the she was extremely cold and that she was laying on what felt like concrete. She was suddenly very happy that this time she was wearing a pair of jeans instead of a dress.

"Alice," she heard someone whisper to her from what sounded like miles away.

"Hatter?"

"Alice come on wake up!" the voice replied with a hint of annoyance.

Alice opened her eyes to only to see the Duchess standing behind a set of iron bars that appeared to be part of a jail cell. It took Alice a moment to realize that she was the one in the cell. "How did I-"

"Look, I can't talk to you for long. You've been captured but I doubt anything will be done to you because she can use you as leverage….You need to know that you can trust me. I'll try to come back later, but for right now you need to just stay calm and wait."

*************

"You stupid blighter! You son of a bitch. What have you done?" Hatter yelled furiously at Jack. He was being held back by two rather large men who were the first ones that came into the shabby tent and pulled him off Jack. It wasn't that they weren't suffering but they weren't as bad as Jack. The King was now sporting a bloody nose and a slightly dazed expression.

"Let him go." Jack said softly as he sat at the edge of the cot, "He has every right to be angry."

"But sir," one of the men replied before Jack shot him a look and after that Hatter was released but both men made sure to obstruct his view of the King.

"We all understand, Hatter, that the circumstance is regrettable."

"The circumstance is regrettable. Can you even hear the words that are comin' out of your mouth?!" Hatter replied as he pushed once again at the men in front of him. He wanted to kill Jack and he wasn't exactly incapable.

"In times of war certain steps must be-"

"Steps?! Is that all she is to you now-"

"Don't Hatter. Don't act like you're the only man here that cares for her."

"If you cared for her as much as you say you do, you would've died tryin' to save her." Hatter roared back and his words seemed to hit Jack like a physical blow, the King was speechless, "That's what I thought, you've never been anythin' but talk….Let me go." Hatter mumbled softly to the men that were holding him, they were pretty eager to comply.

"Hatter, where do you think you're going?"

"To find Alice." Hatter replied as he walked out of the tent.

"I can't let you do that Hatter…whether you want to realize it or not there are more important things here than Alice." Jack said as he came up behind Hatter.

"Not to me."

"If you don't stop, I will have to take you prisoner. I cannot risk you falling into the enemy's clutches when I have no idea what they want to do with you and the effects their actions will have on the rest of us." Jack continued as he gripped Hatter's arm to make him stop, "I am still King and I have to put the safety of my people ahead of everything else….I will use force, if I must."

"Then use it, because you're not gonna stop me without it."

****************

"Hello girl," a voice said to Alice as she sat in her cell. She had been stuck in the basement like room for what felt like days, but she knew that it could've only been a few hours. This strange voice was the first communication that she had since the Duchess left.

"Hello?" Alice replied feeling a little ridiculous, "Whose there?"

"I should be the one asking who's here, don't you think? After weeks and weeks and plans and plans of trying to get him, I end up getting stuck with you instead." Once the voice spoke these words a woman appeared in front of Alice. Alice would've fought her, but one look at the thing in front of her told her that that was a very bad idea. "Ahhh, I can see why he followed you. You're pretty, for a human. You don't hide behind clothes and paint like so many others. I can respect that." she said as she lightly took Alice's face in her hand before Alice flinched away, "...You know, all you things seek is paradise and then look at what you do when you find it."

"…I don't have a clue what you're talking about. I just want to get the hell out of here, find Hatter, and then…"

"I see you're conundrum." the woman replied as she began to pace the small stone room. "You want to leave. You want to go back to your world…but you want to stay with him as well. So, what you need to ask yourself is; is home truly where the heart is and, if so, who is the owner of yours?…Not that it matters, really, because Hatter is mine."

"What do you mean?"

"Hatter is my holy grail. Where he is, is the X on my map….He is the light at the end of the tunnel, for my race that is."

"What?" Alice replied with a bit of confusion as she gazed into the woman's strange violet eyes. Eyes that seemed to hold all of time and emotion but yet never expressed them. Alice didn't know what the woman had planed, but her intentions were clearly against Alice, "What are you going to do to him?"

"Nothing you need to be worried about. I promise that I won't damage him…physically, but I can't guarantee the effects that it'll have on either of you emotionally." she replied with a wicked grin, a sight that seemed a little familiar to Alice, "And once it is all said and done I swear that I will return you, and all the people like you, back to where you belong. Wonderland will be saved, the majority of us will get what we want, and everything will be as it should…but for now I must go. I swear, this isn't the end of our conversations, The New Alice of Legend."

A moment later the woman was gone, it seemed that the last thing Alice saw of her was her toothy grin hanging in the air between Alice and freedom. Between Alice and Hatter.


	19. Ya Learn Somethin' New Everyday

**Blame the youtube videos, they distracted me lol. Oh and this is the first chapter that isn't named after a song...at least not one that I know of.  
**

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"This better be worth it." the Duchess muttered to herself as she fixed the hem of her cheap t-shirt. It was just like Jack to use her feelings against her like this. Oh you love me then do this; you want to be queen, do that. It was almost tragically predicable how she let herself be manipulated into her current situation. Stuck behind enemy lines spying for the man that she loved, but a man that could never truly love her back.

She walked down one of the many halls of Chess's castle, if you could even call it that, carrying a food laden tray in her arms. It was then that the terrible screams pulled her from her thoughts. This wasn't the first time that the cries had filled the halls, but it was the first time that the Duchess was close enough to discover their origin.

A door was barely cracked open a few feet in front of her, carefully she placed the tray on the ground, and tiptoed over to it. Once there she was able to see that Chess was the one that was screaming and she wasn't alone. Helping a doubled over Chess were two people that were dress in the yellow and tan uniforms of casino scientists.

_What is this?, _"Just make it stop." Chess cried as the scientists lowered her onto a bed. Something else particularly strange caught the Duchess's eye. It was a machine that was very reminiscent of the that was employed at the Casino. One of the many that could pull emotions out of people.

She wanted to go in. She wanted to find out as much as she could while Chess seemed unaware, but when she tried to push the door open an old man appeared in front of her. With a dull look in his eyes he closed the door. Quickly, the Duchess returned to the tray, picked it up, and went on her way hoping that Jack would be able to make sense of what she just saw.

*************

Hatter hadn't slept, which in his current state was a bad thing. He needed to recuperate, but he couldn't get his mind to shut off. Alice filled his thoughts. Images of her smiling and laughing, of her eyes and how they looked just before he kissed her were replace by images of a far more disturbing nature. All he could do to stay sane was pace the ground under the tiny tent that he was put in. A tent that was guarded by no less then ten men at a time.

"Oy, you. The King wants to see you in his chambers, so come on and don't do anythin' funny or I will knock you unconscious." one of the guards said as he pulled back the flap of the tent.

Hatter left the tent and stepped in sync with the guard, "The King has chambers out here in the middle of nowhere, that's impressive. So does his master suite have two sheets hangin' over a couple sticks, you know as opposed to the one sheet hangin' over a couple of sticks that the rest of us have to deal with?" Hatter asked, talking had always helped him in the past, but his escort wasn't exactly willing to banter.

As they came up to the tent Hatter couldn't help but remark, that yes it was in fact made with two sheets instead of one.

"Ahhh," a familiar voice greeted as he entered the King's 'chambers'. It looked exactly how he thought it would, slightly furnished with books and plans scattered everywhere. "Justice prevails. I can't begin to tell you how much the sight of you knocked off your high horse warms my beating heart Hatter." the Dodo remarked as Hatter took the seat that was clearly meant for him. Once in position Hatter could feel the eyes of the Dodo, Jack ,and the Caterpillar on him.

"Justice? Doesn't that imply fairness? Because, you know to me, six against one isn't exactly fair."

"You gave us no choice." Jack replied as he handed the Caterpillar another book while he took the one that the older man had offered him.

"To tell you the truth, Jack, that doesn't really make me feel any better….What exactly is this all about?"

"What is your real name?" the Caterpillar replied as if nothing else had even been mentioned, as if this were the beginning of the conversation.

"William…"

"Do you have a last name?"

"What does it matter?"

"It matters because we are trying to piece together all of the information that we have. We are trying to figure out why you are so important." Jack replied as he scanned the pages of his book with his eyebrows raised in interest.

It took Hatter a moment to remember the name that he hadn't used in years. He didn't really want to share any of this information with the men around him, but at this point in time he thought that if he cooperated things would move a hell of a lot faster. "Duff…William Duff."

"And, William, what do you know of your parents?" the Caterpillar continued and Hatter was able to notice that he had begun to take notes

"My father was never in the picture and…and me mum died when I was 13."

"Is that all?…Did you ever notice anything strange about your mother? Did she ever speak to you about your father?"

"No…wait, there was," Hatter had to think about what he was about to say. He was replaying his memories in his mind. "She was really good with a sword."

"That's interesting." the Caterpillar mumbled before putting his head back in his book.

"Duff…could she have been…Caterpillar, do you mind?" Jack asked as he put his hand on the book that the old man had his propped against, with a nod Jack took it and he began to search the pages.

"Your Majesty, don't you think this is a waste of time? We could just hand him over and then-" the Dodo started before Jack cut him off.

"She was a knight." the King said quickly causing Hatter and the Dodo to look at him in shock. The Caterpillar continued on with his book as if no one had said anything.

"What?...A knight? You're jokin'...." Hatter mumbled, a _knight but that's_…

"Impossible, there were no female knights." the Dodo grunted as if he was afraid that the very idea would cause Hatter's head to expand two sizes.

"Right, excuse me, what I meant was your grandfather was a knight." but Hatter just stared at him with a very confused expression on his face. "Here," he said as he handed Hatter the book he was holding. It was some sort of military directory, "There…your grandfather was one of the knights under the White Knight's command. It explains why your mother would've known how to use a sword. It wasn't uncommon for the female relatives of a knight to be trained, especially during the war with…well with my grandmother. And after it would definitely be useful to have some skill with a blade, especially if you were on the run from something."

A moment passed with no sound other then the quiet muttering of the Dodo who kept talking about how ridiculous this information was, then Hatter spoke, "But I thought they were all wiped out."

"We all thought they were, but apparently your mother was very good at keeping the two of you hidden."

******************

"Don't drink the water." the Duchess mumbled as she slipped a tray into Alice's cell.

"You're joking. Why not?" Alice replied as she stared at the cup. She hadn't had anything to drink since she was in her world and that was a day ago.

"I'm not sure but they might have put something in it. I can't have eyes everywhere."

"Not to sound whiny or anything, but could you by any chance bring me water that hasn't been laced with something?"

"I can't…I'm sorry….I have a plan, you'll just have to wait that's all."

Alice never thought she would see the day when the Duchess would sound anything but arrogant when she talked to her, but at that moment the blonde seemed sincere, "How did you end up here?" Alice said, she wasn't really able to resist.

"The things we do when we're desperate I guess. It was either do this or do nothing-"

"And you wanted Jack's approval. But how did they even let you through the door with what you did?"

The Duchess looked Alice in the eye and said, "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn. You see we have that saying here too….Everyone knew that Jack proposed to you before you left. He asked you to be Queen. All I had to do was play vengeful and they welcomed me with open arms, or at least the Queen did. I'm still not completely sure if the 'Lady' trusts me. To be totally honest, I'm not sure if she trusts anyone."

All Alice could do was look at the tray in front of her. A moment later the Duchess made for the exit but before she was gone Alice decided to ask her one more thing, "Are you?"

"Am I what?" she replied as she turned to face Alice her long wavy hair swaying behind her.

"Vengeful."

"I don't know yet."

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**I gotta say, I absolutely love all the reactions that you guys give me in the reviews, please continue ;-).**


	20. You're the Only One

**I honestly have no idea about how I've come up with any of this lol. I'm amazed at how much you guys really hate Chess, I definitely doubt that that's gonna change, but I guess it means that I'm doing something right lol.**

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"I'm really getting annoyed with this Squire. You're lucky that I need information or you would have been dead the moment I saw you, but my patience is waning. Just tell me where it is and I'll end it." Chess said as she looked down at the worn old man that was laid on the table in front of her. It really was a pity that Dee and Dum were completely destroyed in the Casino, she could've used their help right about now.

"What do you want me ta do ta the geezer, sweetheart?" Mad March asked as he toyed with the instruments that lined the metal stand in front of him. Fortune had favored her when the fates kept most of the assassin together. He no longer had a cookie jar head. It was replaced by nothing more than a simple head shaped ball that showed absolutely no emotion. He communicated through the same mechanism that the Carpenter had created for him before he died.

Though one thing about the assassin was taxing. Not only was he mobile through certain bits of technology, which she despised, but particular parts of him were draining her psyche. Mad March wouldn't be around much longer, not at the rate that her energy was depleting, that's why she needed the information now, he was the only one that she could rely on to bring the object back to her. And she highly doubted that he could be brought back a third time.

"Your tools are such a crude means of torture March. You really should get a bit more creative….But, since all I have is you at the moment use the-" but she paused the old man was trying to speak.

"I've….I've been a coward for so long….I was afraid of where death would take me…after what they had done…after what I had done…but I have found my courage….I will not give in to your torture you foul evil loathsome devil. So do what you will."

"Those are pretty words Squire, but they don't mean much. You took from us as sure as the rest of your people…Did you honestly believe that I didn't know how you had survived this long? Not only the shear length of time, but how you have, for the most part, stayed sane….But again we're getting sidetracked, tell me where it is. It really is that simple, but if you don't I will bring you back as many times as I am able and it will feel like an eternity each and every time."

****************

"Have you any ideas Caterpillar? We can't go any farther if we have no plans." Jack asked urgently as the leaders of the resistance sat dumbfounded over the various volumes that the Dodo had brought from the Great Library. They had returned Hatter to his hold an hour or so before, it seemed that he had enough to think about without them picking apart his brain.

"I don't see why we have to be so sentimental, so moral when our enemy isn't, your majesty. Maybe if we just give her what she desires this'll all be over and we can start creating the world that we have all envisioned. What are we sacrificing but one man? A criminal at that." the Dodo said as if he hadn't already spoken those words.

"He's a hero."

"A technicality."

"Are you really so blinded by your hatred, your broken pride, that you don't realize what would happen if we turned him over?"

"You said yourself King," the Dodo replied letting his words drip with derision, "That we do not know what would happen. For all we know we can be treated to a thousand years of peace-"

"Or genocide!" Jack yelled as he got to his feet, "There must be some power that she'll be gaining if she gets her hands on him…And in your musings Dodo, have you forgotten that the very people we are using to fight our battles see Hatter as one of the few that succeeded in freeing them from the Queen's rule?….Morale is almost non existent. Many have already fled to our opposition. A simple change in the wind is all we need and they'll all be gone."

"And whose fault is that?" the Dodo tossed back but before Jack could respond a familiar and breathless messenger burst into the tent and handed him a small letter. When he opened it the meticulously beautiful handwriting was unmistakable.

Jack couldn't help but smile and the information that the letter contained. Leave it to the Duchess to provide at almost the last possible moment.

"Caterpillar, I think we've just had a stroke of luck."

***************

"You know I used to not mind your kind." the woman said as she once again started what passed in her mind as a conversation with Alice, "I found them curious, intriguing. All of us creatures simply stumbled into what appeared to be a wondrous land that had never been inhabited before. You from your world and us from ours….Of course my kind had arrived first, but who were we to judge those that followed."

"Your world?" a weary Alice questioned. She had been following the Duchess's advice…orders and she was suffering for it. The only thoughts that filled her head contained water and Hatter. What had happened to him? Whenever she pictured his face her heart filled with nothing but hope that he was okay.

She hated this. She knew that she hadn't exactly been imprisoned that long but, hell, she was imprisoned. She didn't know what was going on and she didn't know if…she didn't know if the man that she…_God, _Alice thought to herself as she stared at the bars in front of her, _I can't even think it, even now. What kind of person does that make me? What kind of woman can I be if I can't admit my feelings if they aren't reciprocated…not even in my mind…_

"Yes my world," the woman replied, with a rather dreamy expression on her face, "Wonderland is a middle place between the worlds…a purgatory if you will."

"If this is purgatory, which world is heaven and which is hell?"

"I have often thought about that….wouldn't you agree that if both sides came here searching for something, something that has been lacking for them, than wouldn't the opposite world be each worlds respective heaven…especially when you consider that neither can enter the other's world…maybe we can only attain that in death, which is what this Wonderland brings us closer to everyday."

"Seriously, thanks for the philosophy lesson and everything, but when the hell are you gonna let me out of here?"

"In due time. When I get what I want you'll be free."

"And what if that never happens?" Alice asked, deep down she prayed that it wouldn't.

"You better hope it does." the woman replied before she left leaving Alice with nothing but useless water and her thoughts.

**************

Hatter sat confused and tormented with his back against one of the tent's supports. How the hell did he not know about any of this? Was his mother really so paranoid that she couldn't tell her son anything about his heritage?

And not only was he completely confused by this new information, but now that he knew it, what was he supposed to do? Was he obligated to change himself to fit the mold that other had created for him? Would his past be erased if he did?

Leaning his head against his knees, he closed his eyes with a sigh and the first image that greeted him was Alice, but before he could get to wrapped up in her a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hello William."

Looking up he saw, sitting in front of him, the form of a very strange looking woman. He didn't have to be a genus to guess who it was and a second later he lunged forward hoping to catch her off guard, but he only fell through smoke. Then her voice came from behind him, where she was now standing.

"Did you really think that I would jeopardize all of my hard won plans by walking right into the King's camp, just to come talk to you? You're dreaming William, literally, so get a grip."

"I have one, on reality, which seems to be somethin' you care very little about."

"You're wrong, I happen to care a great deal. I just don't care much for humanity, there is a difference."

"Where's Alice?" he asked hastily as he got to his feet, "What have you done with her?"

"She is perfectly safe and she'll stay that way as long as you do what I wish. I owe her that."

"Why would you owe her anythin'?"

"Because she got you to enter her world, which knocked out two birds with one stone. Not only did it confirm that you were the one that I have been looking for, but now you know that you can't enter her world to escape."

Hatter was shaking with anger, or at least his dream self was. How could this thing speak so coolly to him after all that she had done? "You killed my mother."

"And I regret that."

He couldn't help but laugh, "Some how, I very much doubt it."

"Oh, but I do. I have tried to avoid actions that could…damage our relationship." she replied as she came closer to him, her fingers grazing his cheek, before he grabbed her now solid wrist and forced it back to her side.

"I don't know what you are or what you want but don't delude yourself into thinkin' that you have anythin' here."

The woman paused before whispering in a deadly voice "Do not cross me Hatter. I have promised your little girlfriend that I wouldn't hurt you, but I have made no such promise to you. I'll have Alice strapped to a table, just like the would-be-knight, in seconds."

Her threat on Alice struck a cord of fear within him, but he couldn't dwell on that now and with all that had been happening around him and to him, Hatter had forgotten all about Charlie, "Let him go, he's just an old man…" he muttered before replaying her words, "If he isn't a knight then why do you have him?"

Now it was her turn to laugh, "Is that why you think I've been looking for you all this time?"

"Isn't it?"

"For heaven's sake no, if what I needed was someone with the blood of the knights in their veins I would've just picked up any number of the bastard children that are running around Wonderland….No, it's the other half that has made you what I need Hatter….Out of all the people in the whole of existence, you are the most unique."

"If that's true, than why don't you just come and get me? Let all of them go."

"You don't call with nothing in your hand, Hatter."

"But its looking more and more like you're the one that's holdin' the cards."

"True," she said with a sigh as she backed off, "But it is your bet and you may hold the ace, but I have a full house. So what's it going to be William?"

Before Hatter could answer, he was brought back to the conscious world as Jack came into his tent and said. "Good news. We know what we're dealing with."

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**Reviews, reviews, reviews, reviews...please :-D.**


	21. Stories of the Past

**Okay I'm totally workin' with a play on words here lol. Think I-er instead of "Air" which is how its pronounced when you're talking about Jane Eyre. So, I've come up with this back story in hopes that it'll explain multiple things. I'm kinda a little proud of it to be honest and I hope that it makes some sort of sense :-).  
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"She's an Eyre." the Caterpillar said as Hatter stared at the old man from the chair where he sat. The Dodo had left the tent when Hatter had entered and Jack was pacing as though he were getting ready to open a present.

"A what?"

"Haven't you ever heard anything like 'the grin of a Cheshire cat'?" Jack replied as he pulled up a chair.

"Yes but what's that got to-"

"It's the same thing."

Again Hatter couldn't help his look of confusion, "Come again?"

"It's a quirk that they have, wide rather terrifying grins…" Jack muttered as he continued to pace, "The author, Lewis Carroll or Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, he must've met one…"

"Jack you are not makin' any sense." Hatter said carefully enunciating each syllable so Jack would actually hear what he was saying.

"The children's book, do you know it?" the Caterpillar said from behind his spectacles.

"Yeah, everyone in Wonderland does…it's a joke, no ones actually read it."

"Its not a joke, the man was actually here…"

"Ooookay, lets just say, for the sake of argument, that this whole situation isn't completely ridiculous. How does this help us?" Hatter said wanting to get down to business despite the fact that he didn't really know what their business would be.

"It helps us because we now know her strengths and her weaknesses." Jack replied with a smile.

No one spoke for a few moments, Hatter was looking for a better explanation but it didn't seem like he was going to get one, at least not the one that he was looking for.

"Long ago, before the Ancient Knights arrived in Wonderland," the Caterpillar started before pausing to inhale his strange medicine, "Another race from another world presided over this world. Though, like humans, they were not of it….The Eyre were a peaceful race seeking knowledge and magic and their minds were governed by the most basic of emotions; happiness, tranquility and hope. They were creatures that felt the emotions of anger and frustration but they never had a need to show them….They possessed no need for the technology that humans cling so tightly to.

When the first humans entered this world from theirs, through the portal that would later make up the Looking Glass, both races lived in peace for many years…but things soon changed. Humans being creatures of emotion, of wants and desires, they soon wanted everything. They longed for the magic of the Eyre and, at first, the Eyre agreed. These poor creatures helped almost eagerly, giving over their blood and their gifts, and the humans were quick to realize that the strange race was not all powerful.

You see, like they fear anything that they do not understand, the humans secretly feared the other race. Jealousy and fear are strong emotions, that when mixed, never produce a good result and soon the Eyre were enslaved.

As more and more humans arrived, the Knights were created to keep peace. The Red King and his wife were placed on the thrones and they surrounded themselves with the wisest and oldest of the Eyre. They soon learned of the type of gem that could control the magics that ruled over the portals. The Knights mined for it and the Eyre created the Stone of Wonderland.

To the horror of the Eyre, who had hoped for freedom and peace after they had provided this gift, the King made the portal to their world solid…and he destroyed it. The balance between the worlds was broken. Wonderland itself was broken. The land started to steal from its inhabitants. Draining the Eyre of their magics and leaving them a shadow of their former selves.

The effect on humans was one that we all know well. To make up for the loss of the World of Magic, Wonderland has always been draining humans of their emotions. And through this inadvertent transfer of the essences a few humans and a few of the Eyre ended up exchanging a bit of themselves.

Some of the Eyre now felt a bit of emotion and likewise a few humans have magic running through their veins. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep themselves and those their blood from losing all touch with the World of Emotion. Though it seems that with the invention of the machines that remove emotions our race seems to have sacrificed part of itself, that's why we no longer want the oysters in this world. Every time we as a people make head way in getting back what we've lost they come in and throw off the balance. Every time we gain a new feeling theirs come in and dull it again.

Anyway, the world was plugged into madness and a war soon followed between the Knights and the Eyre. The Eyre were too few and they were almost completely destroyed by the overwhelming force of the Knights. In the centuries that followed the Knights hunted for the Eyre until they trusted that the creatures from the World of Magic were gone."

Silence followed the Caterpillar's tale, as he once again sat with his head in a book and an inhaler in his mouth. Hatter couldn't help but think that watching the old man was like watching the great story tellers of his youth. Most of them smoked pipes after telling their tales.

And after all this time, Hatter's image of the great Ancient Knights, was tarnished.

The silence stretch on until Jack broke it, "The weapons of the Knights were specifically created to kill the Eyre."

"How did you guys figure all this out?"

"With some information from a confidential source. The creature must still be tied to the events of the past. She feels emotion."

"She's a good actress then." Hatter couldn't help but comment as he remembered the thing from his dream. _Is she a thing? Can I really allow myself to feel so disgusted by her after learning all this?…On second thought she's pretty much destroyed my entire life, so I'm entitled. _

"She keeps a machine and some of the casino scientists in her fortress. They are removing her emotions."

"…Wait a second, how is it she can do what she does if she has no magic and what the bloody hell does any of this have to do with me?" _And how do I get Alice back? _He though to himself though he didn't really think that question had to be voiced.

"She does have magic, its just not as strong as it once was. She can manipulate the air around her and use spells but that's really it." Jack replied as he got to his feet, "As for your other question, we still have no idea."

"Helpful," Hatter muttered, before he remembered something, something that happened to be anything but helpful, "Jack, she's got Charlie."

"The old knight, why?"

"My guess, he knows were the ancient weapons are, she might try to get rid of 'em."

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**So now we have a reason for her craziness, but what exactly does she want?...Reviews, reviews, reviews...**


	22. Escape

**Someone has asked if I've planned any of this, and I'll be honest, I haven't lol. Its kinda how I like to write, I'm just as surprised as you guys at what's happening. Can I ask, do the constant changes in the points of view annoy anyone? I just want to make sure that I'm no going completely haywire lol. **

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"Why isn't the girl a bumbling fool begging to lick the dirt from my shoes?" the Queen implored as she looked over the tall blonde beauty in front of her. The Duchess, the perfect vision of what every man wanted, of what every girl wanted to be, with looks like that how could she be such a complete and utter failure?

"I don't know your Majesty. I only know that she hasn't been drinking the water that we've provided for her." the blonde replied their conversation harkening back to many that they had shared in the Queen's former throne room. The Queen, being who she was, didn't trust the girl in front of her. She trusted no one but herself and her former assassin and that toy had been taken from her. She had only allowed the presence of the Duchess to annoy Chess. Now she saw her chance to get some blood on her hands once more, figuratively speaking because it wasn't like she was going to be the one chopping heads.

"Is that so? I've known the girl to be crafty but this has the air of something else. Why do you suppose that is Duchess?"

"Perhaps there is a traitor in the fortress." the Duchess replied, her trained actor's voice never failing.

"Any guesses as to who it might be?" the Queen asked knowing full well that she was staring at her betrayer, her son being who he was, and Chess had denied her bleeding necks for so long she was practically itching to take a blade to the blonde's throat herself, but she couldn't act without proof. Damn her fear and damn the politics of gaining a following.

"No ma'am."

"Then bring the girl to me. I'll worm the name out of her somehow." the Queen replied with a grin to match the creature's as she watched the snake curtsy and leave the room. As her eyes followed the girl her mind was giddy with the images of the blonde's demise.

************

_**Shit! **__Shit, shit, shit, shit, __**shit!, **_the Duchess thought as she raced to Alice's cell watching to make sure that she wasn't followed, not that it mattered. She was going to die because of this. Her life was going to end because of the simple mercy that she had shown to a person that she didn't even like. A woman that she kinda hated to be completely honest.

"A plan. I _need_ a plan." she muttered to herself as she sped down the halls and that's when she passed it, the guarded key room.

No one but Chess was allowed inside. It had been a terrible inconvenience since the moment she had arrived, but over time she had been able to snap one of the guards out of his muted state, with a gate between the two of them, and she sent him to Jack with a message. She had to wait for days for any sort of response, unsure that one would even come, and elation filled her when she spotted Jack's messenger from her window. That night it had been luck, but communications had been set up ever since.

Now she was stuck; was it wise to risk her cover, the cover that she suspected was already blown, to get into the room? If she sent to guards away with some urgent excuse she would only have minutes to get the right keys and get her and Alice out. It took her a few hurried seconds to think it through.

With a heavy sigh she gathered her courage and marched over to the guards muttering," Bugger you Jack Heart, the Thief of Hearts. I curse the day that I ever met you."

*************

The sound of metal scraping against stone pulled Alice from her muddled thoughts. She had gone a few days, too long, without water. Dehydration was starting to set in and with her lack of proper sleep, she almost feared that the sound was nothing more than a hallucination. That was until whoever had opened her cell came over and gripped her shoulders.

"Alice," a woman's voice said as Alice was shaken roughly, "Wake up! My covers been blown we need to get the hell out of here."

"What? How?" Alice muttered as she forced herself to her feet as the Duchess all but dragged Alice out of small stone room. Adrenaline was quick to fill her veins, but it was only a short term fix to a much bigger problem.

"I have no idea." the Duchess muttered as she pressed herself up against a wall, obviously wanting Alice to follow suit. Alice suddenly felt like she had been thrust onto the set of a Barbarella. She wanted to laugh, but she thought the better of it boxing up the memory for whatever future use it would have.

The Duchess scanned the area for any signs of life, spotting none, the two women hurried along the hallways, meeting no one. This small piece of luck scared Alice more than she cared to admit.

"Duchess, something's wrong." Alice whispered as they headed down another empty path.

And at the exact same moment that the Duchess turned to Alice with the response of "I know," something slammed the blonde into one of the stone walls and sent Alice flying yards down the hall.

"This is almost too easy," the phantom said as it began to take shape, "I thought the great rulers of our land were supposed to be intelligent, but I've been loathed to discover a spoiled psychopath and her blundering son. Sending _spies _like you into my nest. Its almost insulting."

The violet woman had the Duchess pinned to the wall by her neck. It didn't surprise Alice when the fair skinned blonde started turning the same shade as the strange woman's suit.

"Let her go!" Alice yelled while she got to her feet. She wanted to race to the Duchess's aid, but she didn't think that that course of action would help the current situation.

"Fine," their attacker replied as she let the girl slip to the floor unconscious, "The Queen needs something to play with anyway….and here we are, my young friend, what am I to do with you?"

"You could let the both of us go. We're no threat to you."

"But why would I want to do that?" the woman replied as she disappeared and reappeared in front of Alice taking the brunette's face in her hand, "She's a double agent who has, of all things, broken into my key room and you're…well I'm not entirely sure what you are yet, but I know that it falls under the heading of…complication."

With a flash of courage that she didn't even realize she had in her, Alice pushed the offending limb away from her, but to her dismay she was only greeted by one of the woman's strange grins. "I'm not afraid of you." Alice said knowing full well that it was a total lie.

"Oh you are, I can sense it…I had almost forgotten the pluses of feeling that can escape from you untainted oysters." the woman said as she circled Alice, inhaling as if she was testing a fine wine, "I can see the appeal," she muttered, "Emotions are such odd things. You want them and yet you deny them at the same time. Every creature does it."

"Look, what are you going to do? I don't appreciate being toyed with." Alice said as she tried to talk through her terribly dry throat. Her adrenaline back up system was wearing off, pretty soon she wouldn't be much help to anyone.

Those strange eyes looked her over quickly and as they did their color seemed to brighten at the thought of whatever plan had formed in the woman's mind. "I have a proposition for you." she started as she made her way back over to the Duchess, who was starting to come around, "You see, because of the magic that governs my race, my word is binding. Once a promise is made, I cannot break it."

"So…?"

"_**I**_cannot break it, but _**you**_ can."

Realization caught up to Alice quickly, "No,"

"Really?" the woman ventured with feigned surprise, "You're really going to let me throw you back into that cell where you will either become one of my legion or parish, all for such a simple thing like me not hurting him? You don't even know if that'll even be a necessary action. He could live a long life, without a single hair on his head ever being touched, ever again."

Alice didn't know what to do because the creature's next bargaining chip was an all to obvious one. She could only stand and wait for the words she knew were coming.

"You're going to let me kill this young beautiful girl because you can't let go of a few simple words…? Who are you to have that control over her life? What has given you the right to play Fate where she's concerned?"

The Duchess's eyes widened as the creature dragged her to her feet by her hair, but the she didn't let out a sound, at least not until she was on level with the violet woman, "You're a monster." she whispered before the hand was around her neck once more, but this time with far less force. Both sets of eyes turned to Alice; the violet ones mocking and the blue stoic. The Duchess had far more courage than Alice had given her credit for.

"What's it going to be, Alice?" she started with a smile, "Your lives and freedom for a few words…or death? And it will not be quick, I am not so easily satiated as the Queen."

Alice wanted to run, she wanted to do anything but make this choice. She wanted to rip and tear at the dead mocking eyes in front of her…

But she couldn't…she had to choose. She had to make a choice that wasn't rightfully hers to make. She doubted the creature's scathing assumption that nothing would happen to Hatter and she knew that the lives of two people had been placed in her hands. And no matter how much she wanted to say no, how much she wanted to protect Hatter with every fiber of her being, she couldn't. Who was she to decide whether the Duchess lived or died? The girl had risked everything to save her and now…Alice wasn't going to watch her die.

As the woman tightened her grip on the blonde, her nails so sharp that they drew blood from a wincing Duchess, Alice snapped, "Alright! Just let her go."

"That's not enough Alice."

Frantic Alice couldn't think of anything to say, "Ummm…your promise is broken…? You can do what you will you evil snake."

With a sigh as if a burden had been lifted, she let go of the Duchess, who obviously was unsure whether or not she should run, when she made to do so a simple finger was held up to stop her, "Our deal is struck The New Alice of Legend, but I cannot simply let the blondie go." taking her eyes from Alice she set her sights on the girl next to her, "Not without some punishment for her crimes."

At that moment Alice started forward. All she saw was the villain's hand twitch and a moment later she was gone. It was barely ten seconds before Alice was at the Duchess's side. The other woman simply stood there, letting tears fill her eyes as long scarring scratches appeared on the apples of her cheeks.

************

The Queen stood at her window, watching the dots that were Alice and the Duchess as they escaped into the surrounding forest. She was furious and the laughter behind her didn't lighten her mood.

"Why? Why have you let them escape?! They could ruin everything!"

"No they can't….It really is a shame that you can't see the bigger picture that lies beyond your bloodlust my Queen. Besides, I've gained back something that I let myself lose foolishly. Something that can be much more beneficial."

"I do believe that you are losing your touch, Chess. Its been small things and now this. And you can't even get that ball of bones and metal to talk! How can you possibly maintain control if you cannot get anything done?!" the Queen snapped her facade cracking.

Lightening fast the Queen regretted her words as Chess slapped her before clutching her face and speaking to the older woman with her deadliest voice, "Watch yourself 'Queen'. Remember that you are not the one in control here. You live, you breathe as long as I desire it….Don't let your words wonder away from you again, or they will be your last."

As the forceful hand dropped the Queen clasped onto her bed, not watching as the creature left her room.

She was once royalty, now she was nothing more than a puppet to be used as a front man for the real power. The irony of her situation was not lost on her. Slowly, she laid herself down and laughed herself to sleep. Her mind picking and choosing the steps that would form her plan. She _was_ the face after all, she _had_ promised them that she would provide them with what they desired. They would follow her over the slinking figure of fear that was Chess…wouldn't they?

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**I bow at the feet of all my reviewers, please continue!!!**


	23. Who are you?

**:-). The confusion with the promise thing I'm so sorry, it was a sentence mentioned it passing. I hope that this chapter clears it up.**

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The Duchess had not spoken a word since they had exited the stone building that lay a mile or more behind them. She had eagerly taken Alice's sweater, when the other woman had offered it, and alternated it against each cheek as she tried to stem the flow of blood. Her throat hurt, her body ached with an on coming fever, and even if she could get to some kind of doctor now it would be too late. Her beauty was destroyed. What did she have now?

"We have to stop somewhere." Alice mumbled as she tripped over another rock as her strength failed her. Though the Duchess agreed that they both needed rest of some kind she couldn't help the delight that passed through her with every one of Alice's stumbles, her falls. She wanted someone else to suffer as she was. The petite brunette was losing her coherency and the Duchess honestly felt that if the other woman fell one time to many, she'd leave her there. Though, with the amount of blood she had lost, and was still losing, she had a feeling that she would only get a bit farther without her.

"Duchess I'm," Alice started once again trying to get the words out of her mouth. The words that the Duchess refused to hear because they were useless and filled with no real meaning. Whatever blame Alice placed on herself was undeserved, she did save the Duchess's life after all. Not matter how much she hated her the Duchess had to at least admit that.

"Don't. I'm alive….I'm completely worthless, but I'm alive." the Duchess replied as something within her broke causing her to step wrong and fall. She didn't even have the energy to use her arms to break it so she fell hard letting out a small cry before Alice came to help her.

"Are you okay?" the brunette asked as she helped the Duchess over to a tree so the tired blonde could sit at its base.

The Duchess went over all the pains in her body, quickly discovering that, yes, there was in fact another new spot of pain. She was actually surprised to find that it was possible for her to hurt any more than she already was. "I…I think I've twisted my ankle." she replied as she once again pressed Alice's sweater to her face.

Alice took a moment or two to look at the ankle and she soon agreed that it was sprained. "I'm gonna go see if I can find anything." she said as she got to her feet, "I'm not gonna be able to help much if I don't find water and I don't have the strength to carry you….I'll try not to be gone long, so just sit tight."

The blonde watched the other woman go and as she wallowed in her own misery she couldn't help but think that she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted Alice to come back.

**************

"Shouldn't we be headin' to her fortress or whatever it was that you said she had herself hold up in?" Hatter asked as he readied one of the camps few horses. They thought that they had him under some kind of influence now. It was safe to give him a horse and to let up on the watch because he had 'seen the light' so to speak.

The various 'important' people had been in Jack's tent for hours coming up with battle plans or whatever it was that they did at times like this. He wasn't exactly allowed inside to impart his thoughts and opinions. Even though he seemed to be what the thing wanted, he was only really a bargaining chip to the 'new ' resistance, and bargaining chips weren't usually asked for their ideas.

"You said yourself, Hatter, that she had the knight. Its almost a guarantee that she's torturing him for information. He knows the old kingdom better than anyone and its only a matter of time….Its better we get there first and keep her from whatever it is that she plans to do."

"How d'you know that? She has Alice, Jack. You can't just expect me to sit back and wait while that thing…." the word _torture_ popped into his head before he could stop it, "I have to get her back."

Jack stopped prepping his horse and turned to look at Hatter, "This is the best plan we have, it's the only plan. We have more of a chance out in the open than attacking stone."

"Then I'll go on my own." Hatter replied as he mounted his horse. He was sick of waiting, of doing nothing while Jack and others made the decisions for him. It wasn't like him. Hatter had always followed his head and his heart, and at that moment they were both telling him to go after Alice.

"Hatter, what are you doing?" Jack yelled as he tried to grab hold of the reins, but Hatter had already started to urge his horse forward, and they slipped from the King's grasped.

"Somethin' I should've done a day ago," Hatter said to himself as he dodged the obstacles that were in his path. Commotion surrounded him as he headed into the forest through the same opening that the King's messenger had used the night before.

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_**I promise that I won't damage him…physically**, _the words kept replaying in her mind. They were words that she thought meant nothing at the time they were said, but the sentence had been a binding contract. If she had known that. If she had known before they were taken from her, she would've guarded them, she would've used them. But now they were gone and for what….

These thoughts were the ones that filled Alice's head as she stumbled along roots and twigs on the forest floor. Her limbs reacting to everything a second too late. Her jeans were torn and frayed and her once maroon tank top had now turned brown from falling into mud, but she kept going. She hadn't sacrificed everything just to end up dying somewhere alone in the woods.

Tripping again, she landed on the ground screaming with frustration into the undergrowth. The sound of it caused a few birds to fly out of their nests. As she sat up, Alice took in a shaky breath and didn't move any farther. She just needed a minute. A minute to pull herself together. She sat rubbing her hands over her cold arms, trying to give herself some sort of comfort as she listened to her environment, hoping to hear something, anything that told her water was nearby.

That's when she heard it, the soft trickling of water. Her mood lifted as she scrambled to her feet. It wasn't long before she was running, or what she thought could be considered running, toward the sound. She kept her footing and a moment later she saw it, a small stream running through the middle of the forest.

And she didn't care what was living in it or how gross it could be, she just ran over to it and wanting to jump in. She cupped her hands and bought the cool liquid to her lips, letting relief flow through her. Alice knew that she shouldn't drink too much too fast, but she honestly didn't care.

Soon part of her hair and clothes were wet but it was a nice feeling. It was like the water was seeping into her through her skin.

In her giddiness she didn't hear the foot steps. She didn't realize that anyone else was nearby until she heard a small twig snap, but it was too late. As she spun around to face whatever it was, a dagger was pressed to her throat. When she tried to force the arm holding it away for her, the man countered, forced her up against a tree and returned the dagger to her throat.

"Who are you?" he said roughly as locked his green eyes on hers. She didn't even have to say anything, he just stopped and lowered the small blade. "I'm so sorry."

"What the hell? Who goes around attacking women in the middle of the woods?" she asked as she put a hand to her uninjured throat while she slid down to its base.

"I didn't mean…I thought you were….You're supposed to be imprisoned, the Duchess said-" he replied as he put the dagger back it the sheath that hung at his side. A moment later he started to walk away from her.

"Who _are _you?" Alice interrupted as she got to her feet. She didn't know where he went and she didn't think it was exactly safe to follow him either.

"Name's Noah. I'm a messenger for the King of Wonderland and you're Alice," he said from behind a tree. He must have thought she was following because a second later he poked his head out from behind the tree, "Are you coming?"

Hesitantly, she took the few steps to close the gap between them, she wasn't going to be caught off guard again. "And we're going where?"

"I have to get you back to camp, the King'll want to learn what happened and how you escaped." he replied as he checked the saddle bags that were on his horse. Apparently Alice had stumbled upon a stream that wasn't to far away from the messenger's camp.

"But we have to go back."

"I heard you were, unconventional…stubborn maybe, but not insane. I'm not taking you back in that direction" he said as he turned to face her, his slightly long sandy brown hair shining in the sun. Alice hadn't even noticed the time of day until she saw the light in his hair. They were standing in a clearing and she could now see him clearly in the light. Some part of her thought he looked familiar or maybe it was just something in his eyes.

"You don't understand, I left the Duchess about a mile back. She's hurt. I can't just leave her there." Alice said her voice slightly frantic. She wasn't going to ditch the Duchess.

"What?"

"She's that reason I was able to get out of there…well, sort of."

Alice noticed that something changed in Noah when she had mentioned the Duchess. He didn't waste anytime in climbing onto his horse and pulling her up behind him.


	24. Can't Fight the Moonlight

**Its one of my more girly titles. I couldn't think of one and I just downloaded the song lol.**

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_There was blood everywhere. It covered his shirt, his skin, his hair. He was still alive but she couldn't see how that was possible. He must be in so much pain. He screamed again as another one of her talented tools went to work, her violet eyes widening at the sight._

"_Alice please,"_

"Hatter!" Alice yelped as she shot up into the strong arms that shook her. She hadn't even realized that she had been sleeping.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down you're alright." Noah said as he pulled back and looked her over before he got to his feet.

"What have I done?" Alice whispered as she looked into the fire. The two of them had found the Duchess hours earlier and she wasn't in great shape so they returned to the stream and set up camp for the night until it was possible for her to travel. It was an awkward trip because it was the first time that the city girl Alice had to actually control a horse. Noah led the party while Alice took the reins and kept the Duchess steady in front of her. The messenger was full of concern for the blonde but he didn't waste any time in poking fun at the great Alice who couldn't even ride a horse.

"You were just dreaming." he replied as he saw to the Duchess. He didn't seem to be able to leave her alone. Once they set up camp, Noah pulled out what Alice took to be a Wonderland first aid kit. The box's contents included some sort of butterfly stitches that were used to close the cuts on her face, a wrap for her ankle, and he had been able to get the blonde to swallow a pill of some kind that Alice hoped would help break her fever.

"How is she?"

"Her fever broke about an hour ago so she'll be alright." Alice couldn't help but notice that when Noah spoke, he gently wiped away a lock of hair that clung to the Duchess's forehead. "So, Hatter, did I get the name right? Is he your dream man?"

Alice sucked in a breath at the sound of his name, "Yeah….Have you…have you seen him? Do you know if he's okay?"

"As far as I know he's back at the camp and perfectly healthy. Apparently he's a pretty important guy….He's the one that helped you out with the Queen?"

"Yeah he is."

"I some how thought he would be…taller….I know he would've went casing after you if he could," Noah replied with a smile. He was trying his best to cheer her up, whatever the point was.

They both fell into silence as Alice picked up the canteen that she had placed on the ground next to her before she fell asleep. After a minute or two Noah pulled out his dagger. Alice thought that maybe he was actually going to use it for something, but he only toyed with it, throwing it up in the air with a flip before catching it.

"Not to sound weird or anything, but is that thing special to you?"

"It was my grandfather's. He gave it to my dad before he died and my dad did the same."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, they both died bravely. It's what knights do after all."

"What?" Alice asked, her voice shocked. "I thought the ancient knights were wiped out."

"Well they were…my grandfather fled the old kingdom and went into hiding before he could join the dead. It wasn't by choice." he added at the look on her face, "No, you see the ancient seers told him that his children must be protected. That they must flee for their safety, for the future of Wonderland."

"Seers…you mean fortune tellers? Tea leaves, palm readings, crystal balls, the works?"

"I don't know what any of that is, but yeah I guess you could say they 'told fortunes'. Its been said that they drank the blood of the Eyre and it gave them certain abilities."

"The Eyre?"

"Ancient race, they were wiped out long before the knights were…anyway, back then if a seer told you to do something you did it."

"Does Jack…the King know any of this?" she asked, thinking to herself that she was never going to get used to her ex's new title.

"Hell no and I hope you'll keep it that way." he replied as he eyed her from across the flames.

"Fine, but why did you tell me?"

"Because you're Alice."

In that moment he reminded her of Charlie, "Not you too….I just wish everyone would stop the whole 'Alice' thing."

"Ummm oookay…Alice."

She had enough of him poking fun at her, it was about time she poked back, "What's with you and the Duchess?"

She obviously struck a cord. Alice had a feeling that if Noah were standing he'd be floored. His eyes grew wide before answering, "N-nothing."

"Really? I'm sure she appreciates the help and everything, we both do, but you seem pretty attentive for a guy whose just doing his job."

This time he lowered his head before answering and his words were too quiet for Alice to hear.

"Sorry?"

"She doesn't know." Noah sighed as he looked up.

"She doesn't know what?"

"… I'm the…I was…I was the guard."

"The what?"

"The guard…she saved me…got me back to bein' me." he paused as he looked at Alice and noted her confusion, "About a month back I got roped in, caught off guard. They drugged me with those emotions…everyday; loyalty, obedience, admiration. It was like drowning and not being able to fight the current….It was nothing but random chance, I know that, but she weaned me off the stuff and sent me off as her messenger to the King. I've been doing it ever since, but I doubt she even knows I exist."

"She'll know now." it was all Alice could think of to say in return.

***********

"I had to go off on me own didn't I." Hatter muttered to himself as he pulled his horse along, it was too dark for him to ride in the dense trees. "Hatter you stupid git, you don't even know where you're goin'. Ya tell yourself to just keep goin' straight, you'll end up somewhere, but you've been goin' straight for four bloody hours!"

Hatter hadn't seen anything around him that could tell him where to go. There had been a stream about a mile or so back, where he stopped to drink and rest for a few minutes, picking up one or two useful herbs by the light of the moon. After that, he started walking again and he hadn't stopped since.

Suddenly a light appeared out of nowhere, as if whatever caused it was waiting for him. Quickly, he tied his horse to a nearby tree and moved forward, despite his self preservation senses, which were flashing red behind his eyes.

There, in the middle of a clearing, sat what Hatter took to be the legendary fortress and it lived up to its name. The light was originating from the few torches that hung on the stone walls behind the iron gate.

"Fantastic," Hatter whispered sarcastically to no one as he began to round the building. Ten minutes later he ended up in the woods on the opposite of the stone building. One thing was clear, there was no way inside. Every entrance was guarded. Hatter thought it was slightly sad that he found the lack of security cameras comforting.

He knew he would only be able to get in if he found something to climb with and he some how doubted that he would be blessed with rope. That left one option…a very very bad option.

"Oh bollocks," he muttered before he stepped out of the trees, "OY! Over here!"

His outburst received the reaction he hoped for, the guards at the gate turned to him… along with their guns, "Hey, hold on, you don't want to damage the merchandise….I've, ah, I've come to see your leader…?"

As he expected, the men grabbed his arms and urged him over to the gate. It didn't take long for someone to open it and a moment later Hatter stepped over the threshold.

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**Something felt a little off when I was writing this chapter, it maybe my lack of sleep lol, but I hope you liked it. Reviews, reviews, reviews!!!!**


	25. You Outta Know

**Howdy, sorry about the wait. Classes+ the flu+ hunting for a pet= no time to type lol. I decided to give you one massive chapter, with a lot of back story and explanations. I hope you like it.**

**Warning: There is quite a bit of violence in this chapter, I'm not to sure about it, but there ya go**

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Her eyes were on him. The dead glow that had filled them in his dream was now replaced by the glow of triumph.

"And to think, I worked so hard for you to just, give yourself over." she started as she circled him. Once Hatter had entered the building he was taken directly to the creature that he so despised. At that moment they were in her 'throne' room. "I always thought the cat was supposed to catch the mouse."

"I thought I'd save you the trouble. Besides, I've always been a bit suicidal." Hatter replied sardonically while he tried to ignore her closeness.

"You haven't. Always one for self preservation, but love makes fools of us all. I know that's why you came, nothing else can be gained from this, not for you anyway and I don't see your wardens standing outside my door."

"It doesn't matter, you've got me, now just let Alice and Charlie go."

"Are you really so simple?…Never mind…I'll take you to her, but I can't do anything beyond that. Politics, you know." she replied before she exited the room, Hatter followed with the hope of catching her off guard. To his surprise, she waved off the guards that tried to follow them. The two were alone.

"Where are we going?" Hatter asked, suddenly a whole lot more suspicious than he had been, if that were possible.

"The cells are kept down a few halls, that's where she'll be….What do you know of your parents?"

"I'm gettin' pretty annoyed that everyone keeps askin' me that, and what do you care? Its because of you that I don't know 'em."

Turning around she looked him in the eye and said, "I have a few answers, if you want them. Its your choice, I can lead you to the light or you can forever remain wandering in the darkness."

"A darkness that you've created."

"That's not really the point, but I cannot deny what's happened in the past. Though it led us both to this point." she said as she turned around and continued walking. Hatter took each step with restrained anger as he once again followed her lead.

"Do you know how long I've been in Wonderland?"

"No I don't, and to be honest, I don't really care." he replied honestly his voice catching up a few octaves.

"Since the beginning. I arrived here when the first group of my kind went through the portal. I've seen so much." she muttered as if he hadn't said anything, "War, death, pain. The knights made us what we became, what I am. They took away our peace and brought on us the same weakness that controls their kind, but its so much worse.

"After the wars my people fled. We kept to the darkness trying to avoid contact with any type of human….Eventually we all became aware that we were being hunted. I had to watch as each and every creature I knew and…loved was picked off, hunted down like dogs and killed with glee. It was like losing a part of myself each and every time.

"There were a few exceptions not all the knights and humans were so corrupt. Some helped us, sheltered us. They provided food, water, and kindness. Though most of the time any of us thought we met one of these people it turned out to be a trick.

"Slowly, I came to realize that I was alone. The last of my kind, but every once and a while I would hear rumors, they floated on the wind, and one in particular caught my attention.

"Apparently there was a male left. The 'feelings' I felt when I heard that information were wonderful. I imagine only going back home would create anything better.

"So I searched. Looking everywhere hoping he had heard of me as well. Hoping that we could possibly restart our race."

"I really don't need to hear 'bout your sex life." Hatter mumbled as they turned a corner.

"Its a tricky business. Creating another one of us. We aren't like you humans who can just multiply like rodents." she continued as they rounded another corner with Hatter wishing that the journey would be over soon, "There's magic involved, rituals that only one thing can override...and I should've expected it.

"The blasted creature fell in love, with a human." she muttered with disdain as she turned to him her eyes locking on his.

"No." Hatter whispered, disbelief filling him as he anticipated her next words.

"Funnily enough, she was a decedent of the mighty knights who tore us down all those years ago."

"Just. Stop talkin'." Hatter replied as he held up a shaky finger before heading down the corridor to the door at its dead end.

He didn't want to hear this. What she was saying couldn't be true.

"And of course," she started from his shoulder when she came up behind him while he leaned his head against the cool wood of the door, "Being young, she was barely a woman you see, she was easily enchanted by him....Just as they all were once....The two fell blindly and they created you….

"And when her brother, your uncle, found out, he couldn't bring himself to end the life of his beloved sister, despite the abomination she had given birth to. So, as head of his family, he ordered the two of you away…but before she left, he forced her to watch as he killed your father.

"The only reason you are still alive, William, is because your uncle found the last living ancient monk and had him bind most of your magic…the spell killed the old man and it gave you your sledgehammer."

Hatter listened to her words and a moment later, he snapped. "NO!" he yelled as he turned around, shoving her with all his might causing her to fly down the hall, "She's in there isn't she?!"

She got to feet with a smile before disappearing and pining him to the stone wall when she reappeared a moment later, "Actually, I let her go."

"What?" he rasped against her as her gripped crushed his wind pipe.

"All she did for hours was sit there, hoping and praying that you'd come and save her...but you never did. She's lost faith in you. I only had to give her the option, a simple deal....I can do anything I want with you now, there's nothing to stop me....She traded your life for hers."

Gathering what strength he could, Hatter pushed her back, and the mix of both his anger and heightened strength was enough for him to pin her to the opposite wall before she even realized what was going on. "You're lying. Where is she?"

Hatter could barely hold himself together when the face in front of him contorted with laughter, "Why would I lie to you, William?"

"What are you talkin' about? You've said nothin' but lies since I-" but Hatter's rant was cut short when a sudden sharp and blinding pain filled his abdomen. Every nerve in his body lit up the moment she squeezed.

"Details," she sighed while she moved with him to the ground. His body hit the floor with her hand still inside of him. He tried to speak but he couldn't get the air out and when he tried to touch her, his efforts did little more than float through air. "You really must look passed the minor things, William. See the bigger picture…You, you shouldn't even exist." when she spoke her voice began to fill with an odd excitement, "None like you have ever existed, not before or after you…and they never will. You're perfectly balanced between the worlds. You match the land you were born in…You can-"

A wave of sickness hit Hatter. A wave that he could feel because it was a sensation so different from the agony that he was currently in. It coincided with a twitch from the creature above him. Her body seemed to flicker as she began to move away from him, removing her hand from his body. She seemed to be moving with some effort and Hatter tried to regain what he could of himself, but before he could take any action, a terrible scream filled his ears. If he wasn't already on the ground this sound would've put him there.

She was still screaming when the entrance to their end of the corridor filled with bodies. A few of them went over to her and helped her stand while her screaming subsided.

"Mistress," he heard one mutter from his place on the floor, the man spoke as if he was used to helping his master like this, "What do you want us to wit' 'im?"

A couple hands grabbed him and dragged him to his knees so he could face his captor.

"Take him to Mad March…he's been aching for their reunion. I'll arrive to perform the proper spells when I can. Tell March to keep him alive." she commanded softly with her arms wrapped around her followers for support.

Gas filled his face once again and he soon fell into unconsciousness, but not before he witnessed her being dragged down the hall.

****************

"'Bout time you woke up…torture ain't exactly pleasurable when your victim's sleepin'. Just ask gramps, over there." Mad March's voice said as Hatter opened his eyes. The Hatter knew that he couldn't have been out that long because every injury still felt fresh.

It didn't take him long to realize that his arms and legs were bond with something to what felt like wood, each limb stretched out individually. He guessed the purpose was to provide access to as much skin surface as possible. The brown eyed man was also distinctly aware that his hat and shirt were missing.

"It's good t' see ya again Hatta….The compny 'round here ain't really lively, if ya know what I'm sayin'….I've been stuck wit gramps so long that I almost forgot what healthy people looked like."

Hatter took a second to shoot a glance across the room. He noticed Charlie on a table not far away from him. From what he could see, the old knight didn't look well. It seemed that he was so torn up that they didn't even bother strapping him down anymore.

"What've you done to 'im?"

"Wha d'ya think?…She's got me torturin' 'im, askin' about some weapon or somethin', but 'e ain't talkin'. I supposed it don' make any difference now seeing as she's got you. It was awful nice of the broad to let me have a go 'round before she does what she like wit ya."

"Yeah, she's really considerate." Hatter replied as he pulled at the leather straps. He stopped the moment March's indistinct head appeared above him, Hatter's eyes were quickly drawn away from the strange sight to the shining tool in his enemy's grip.

"Ya know. I've been waitin' a long time for this….I mean a man takes ya in and treats ya like one of his own and then you turn into a backstabbin' rat….A coward who turns to the resistance because he can't take the heat. Plus the whole killin' me thing doesn't help much. I mean, dying, twice ain't really that much fun."

"Well, yeah, but I only killed ya the one time…so maybe you can go easy on me…just for old times sake?" Hatter mumbled sarcastically as the tiny blade touched his chest, he held back his scream as it left a small clean line on his skin.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." the slightly robotic emotionless voice replied as he started cutting in a different place, "But its also true that if I hadn't been so damn soft hearted the Queen wouldn't've chopped my head off….I caught you, ya little runt, and I let ya go. Why did I do that, huh?" he said to himself as he continued his work, the damage becoming erratic because of Hatter's heavy breathing, "Right, I did it cause you were famly…and cause of that I suffered torture that makes this look like child's play, that Queen was one creative bitch…and then a day or so later, my head was on the choppin' block. Can't really say I enjoyed the process."

A moment later the blade pushed in deeper and Hatter let out a pained grunt and closed his eyes tight. Mad March laughed at the sound, if you could call it a laugh. Hatter knew some how that he wasn't going to get out of this situation…at least, not on his own.

"Taste steel you heathen," a shaky voice whispered. Hatter's eyes flew open and he watched as the beaten Charlie impaled Mad March with one of the torture's own implements.

"Wha…?" Mad March's metallic voice sighed before he fell to the floor twitching.

"Charlie! I thought you were dead!" Hatter yelled almost cheerfully as the old man released his limbs.

"Nearly was lad," he replied when he finished with the last strap before falling forward against the wooden table.

Struggling through the sharp pains in his chest, Hatter sat up and slid off the table. With a few steps he was standing above Mad March and he let out a hissing breath as he bent down to make sure the man was dead. And he was. Hatter could only hope that this death would be permanent.

Another thing that he was happy to see was Charlie…fully clothed, _small blessings_.

"Hows about we get outta here, alright?" Hatter asked as he took Charlie's arm.

"I'd break down the blasted door if I had the strength to do it." Charlie mumbled as the two men made their way to the door.

Hatter took the handle and turned, but the heavy door didn't budge. "Damnit!" he snapped and a moment later he turned from it. He set himself to the task of finding something to cover himself with, it was the only thing that he could think to do to calm himself. Grabbing what remained of his button down shirt and black fedora, he returned to the door pressing bandages to his chest.

"Any ideas?" Hatter asked Charlie, who he had left sitting on one of the tables.

"If I had any, harbinger, do you think I'd still be trapped here?" the uncharacteristically solemn Charlie replied.

"I don't suppose hittin' it would help?" Hatter knew it wouldn't but Charlie answered with a shake of his head.

"Its times like this that I wish I was back in the forest with my inventions. The door opener 2000 would surely help us out of this predicament."

"How long have you been here?"

"I could not tell you the hours, lad. Just know that it was too long."

The two of them fell silent for what had to be at least an hour. Hatter was beginning to go stir crazy, especially with the knight's chorus of 'Hey Nonny Nonny' filling the room.

To much information crowded his head and he had no way of releasing it. He needed to talk…he needed to talk to Alice, but had the creature told the truth? Had Alice lost her faith in him? He knew that he shouldn't believe it but he already had so many doubts about how a girl like Alice could possibly trust him that the idea was eating away at him.

More time passed and Hatter began kicking at the door, hoping that he would do some damage. To his surprise, a moment before he kicked out for what felt like the 80th time, the door opened and he was shocked by what greeted him on the other side.

"Bloody hell…what are you doin' here?" he asked of a disheveled looking Queen of Hearts.

"Come…we haven't got much time. Whatever it was that you did to her has laid her up for the moment, but she won't be out forever." she replied as she left the doorway and continued on down another hallway.

Hatter took a second to glance at Charlie with his suspicions written on his face. Charlie's face bore the same expression but he nodded for Hatter to help him. The younger man wrapped his arm around the old man's waist as the old man put an arm over his shoulders and soon the two were following the former queen.

"Why are you helpin' us?" Hatter said harshly as he breathed through his own pain and the labor of carrying most of Charlie's weight.

"Helping you? Don't be so naïve, I'm helping myself. If no one can trust her authority and her ability to carry out her plans, they'll flee her leadership." her voice was like a whip as they rounded another corner where they met another heavy door. Hatter was relieved because he could feel cool air as it drifted up from the crack between the door and the ground.

The Queen placed a key inside the lock and opened the door, "Quickly, before the guards notice. Head for the trees and try to stay silent, if your lumbering limbs allow you to do so."

Hatter wondered if the Queen actually believed what she said about the people fleeing the creature's leadership and turning to her. He knew that it was never going to happen and because of that he didn't really know how to react to the woman in front of him.

"Thanks," he simply said as he helped Charlie outside, the cool air washing over them both, providing some relief to their burning bodies. His ears picked up her voice, but they couldn't make out her words as he raced to the edge of the forest. Though, he somehow doubted that her farewell was kind.

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**Reviews please!!!!**


	26. Its Been Awhile

**Sorry guys, I tried uploading this file for a few days but I was having some problems. I hope you enjoy ;D.**

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"He what?!" Alice snapped at the girl in front of her. It was midday and the trio of Alice, Noah, and the Duchess had ridden for quite a bit of time before they finally arrived at the camp. Alice had hoped that she'd be able to rush into Hatter's arms, to make sure that was he well and whole, but as it turned out was he wasn't there. Hardly anyone was. Most of the able bodied men and women had headed off to the ancient Kingdom and apparently Hatter decided to try and save her.

"I'm sorry miss," the girl whispered quietly in reply, avoiding the older woman's gaze.

"No," Alice sighed while she ran her fingers through her knotted hair. She and the girl were alone because Noah had taken a semi conscious Duchess into one of the tents while Alice got the info. "No, its not your fault…do you know when he left?"

"Just before dark last night-"

"Sarah!" a little boy called before the girl could say anymore. It seemed that the only people that were left in the camp were the small children and those who were just old enough to shoulder the responsibility of caring for them.

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go."

"Oh no problem. Thanks for talking to me." Alice replied as she watched the girl walk away from her. _What the hell am I gonna do?_

**************

"Are you alright?" the green eyed man asked her as he helped into the bed.

The Duchess was far from alright. Her body ached, she felt ill, and her clothes were disgusting but she didn't have the strength at the moment to do anything about it. Not wanting to complain she said, "Yeah, I'm fine." with a shaky voice.

"Are you sure I can-"

"Its okay. I'll just…sleep, sleep is fine for now….Thank you for helping me." she started as she wrapped the blankets around herself. The bed wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was still a bed. She couldn't help but notice that the strange man sat next to her once she was settled.

"It was nothing." he replied with a blush, "Not after what you've done for me."

She paused for a second as she scrutinized his face, "Do I know you?…What's your name?"

"Noah…you ah, you helped me out once."

"I'm sorry. I'm rubbish with faces."

Noah looked a little disappointed as he muttered a simple "Its fine…not that important anyway."

"Ummm," the Duchess started before stopping to think about what she was about to ask, "Have you seen…I mean…is Jack- The King nearby? Its just that…well after what happened I think I should talk to him." She hated herself for even thinking about the man after the events that had taken place, but love isn't something that you can easily shake.

"Oh, ah no he's not…apparently everyone went off on some sort of grand mission….I guess I'll be meeting up with them eventually….Can I, can I ask you something?" he asked, his voice unsure. The Duchess had no idea what his question would be but she allowed him to ask it, "What's your name?"

"Excuse me?" the Duchess questioned in return, she couldn't help being taken off guard.

"The Duchess is a title, not a name. I figured…I mean you have to have one-"

"Its Sophia," she replied as she once again looked him over. The fact that he was absolutely adorable didn't go unrecognized.

"Well, Sophia," he started as he got to his feet, saying each syllable of her name as if it meant something much more than it should, "I'll just leave you to it then."

When he put his back to her she felt as if she was losing something, "Wait,"

"Yeah" he said as he turned to face her.

"…Thank you. Really."

"You're welcome." he replied before he stepped outside leaving the Duchess alone with her thoughts.

*************

"Noah!" Alice shouted as she raced to his side the moment he stepped out of the Duchess's tent with a glazed look on his face.

"Wha-"

"We have to go back!" she continued to shout frantically even though she was standing right next to him.

He glanced at the tent as if it were a hospital room before replying quietly, "Would you keep your voice down?!"

"I'm sorry, but he's gone to save me and I'm not there. He's gonna get himself killed and it'll be my fault."

"Stop. Breathe." Noah said firmly causing her to take a second, "Now what's going on?"

"Evidently Hatter rode off last night. He went off to rescue me, I guess, and now we have to go get him back."

"We? Since when did this," he waved his hand back and forth between them, "Become we?" At that moment he reminded Alice way too much of Hatter.

"Since I can't ride a horse…fast without almost killing myself, and you're the only one here, above the age of twelve, that can….I need your help."

"No, you need me to drag you off on a suicide mission….A suicide mission that'll probably end up getting _me_ killed. Is this a regular thing with you?"

"I guess it is. Now will you help me?"

"If I don't…?"

"I'll kick your ass." Alice replied with a nod.

"Well, when you put it like that."

**************

It was about 3 o'clock, by no one's exact time, when Hatter and Charlie lent against a couple of trees for another short break. Hatter knew that they both needed to rest, but they couldn't risk it. Once word got out that they were missing the forest would be flooded with her men.

"Just five minutes Charlie." Hatter muttered catching his breath as he slid to the tree's base. He didn't know how much longer he could go on dragging the two of them.

"Go, harbinger. Hand me a club and I shall fend for myself." Charlie said simply and this wasn't the first time he had spoken those words since they had been on the run.

"I ain't leavin' ya here Charlie."

"There's no point in both of us dying."

"There's no point in either of us dyin' old man." Hatter attached the last part to the sentence for old times sake. The two men just sat, breathing for a moment, until Hatter decided to ask Charlie a question that had been bugging him for a while. "Charlie, what's with…ya know, the whole mystic thing?"

"You mean my ability to peer it to the vastness of the great beyond?"

"Yeah, sure."

Charlie took a shallow breath before answering, "They preferred experimenting on the young. Preferably on the children from the lower class families. "

"Experimentin' with what?"

"Something they never should have taken to begin with."

At that moment something clicked in Hatter's head, "You was dosed with Eyre blood as a child weren't you?"

"I see that you have been well informed on the past in my absence….Yes, the blood of the Eyre has given me certain 'gifts', though I would call them cruses."

"Well," Hatter sighed as he got to his feet, he really didn't have an appropriate reaction for this piece of information, not with everything else that was already crashing around in his head. He held out his hand to the white haired man before continuing, "I guess we're in the same boat there mate."

Once Charlie was up right Hatter tried to put his arms into position, but the old man was reluctant in accepting his help. All Hatter could do was follow as Charlie began walking on his own.

****************

Two hours, plus an irritatingly slow horse, were enough to put Alice on edge. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?!"

"What do you want me to do, strap a motor to its romp? I'm sure that'll attract some helpful attention." Noah replied as he glanced at her from his shoulder. It wasn't hard to guess that Noah was feeling pretty much the exact same way that she was…but for different reasons…like say Alice in general.

"I don't know! What I do know is that we aren't going to be able to help Hatter if we never actually show up."

"Yeah well, we aren't going to get anywhere if you kill my horse."

"I can run faster than this!"

"What's stopping you?!"

Alice let what a heavy frustrated breath before continuing, "Fine, stop this thing and let me off."

"You're joking…?"

"No, actually, I'm not….Look, I probably shouldn't've dragged you into this anyway. It seems that I have a tendency of doing that to people when I come here."

"Alice I-"

"Would you please just stop the horse?" Alice replied her voice resigned.

"Yeah, he's got to drink and there's a stream nearby." Noah responded as he pulled on the reigns indicating to the horse that he should stop. Quickly Alice slipped of the back. She took a moment to steady herself after the long ride while Noah led his horse to the small stream in front of them. Once her legs were functional, Alice began walking on her own.

"Ummm, this might not be the best time, but…ah yeah, you're going the wrong way." Noah said as he came up behind her. It wasn't hard for her to guess that he had tied his brown horse to some tree out in the middle of nowhere.

Alice halted and turned to him with a deadly look on her face, "Which way?"

Noah backed off before answering, "You don't really want to go straight…its kinda more diagonal from here."

"Thank you." she replied, her voice staccato before she moved in the direction that he had indicated.

"So," Noah started as he followed her, "You're really gonna try doin' this on your own then?"

"Yes,"

"You're sure that you don't want my help?"

"Yes, you're free to go."

"How much trouble do you reckon I'll be in when I tell the King that I left you wondering out here by yourself?"

"Look, I don't know…just don't tell him." Alice said while she stepped over a large twig, a moment later Noah did the same.

"Are you suggesting that I lie to the King of Wonderland?…Or that I go back and threaten the lives of all the children that saw you at camp?"

"…Oh…I sort of forgot about them. Just tell him I knocked you out or something. Jack'll believe it I swear, I've done it to him plenty of times."

"Alice are you even listening to me?…If you go off on your own out here and people know that I just left you or didn't go chasing after you…do you even understand what would happen? It doesn't matter what you've decided at this point, I'm coming with you."

"Then would you shut up." Alice whispered as she stopped walking, "I think I heard something."

There was some rustling, a loud _CRACK!! _of a large twig snapping_, _before Noah pushed Alice into a nearby tree to get her out of sight. Slowly, Alice watched as he pulled his grandfather's gem studded dagger out of it's sheath. Up close it looked a lot more like a small sword than a dagger.

Silently, he placed his finger to his lips telling her to keep quiet, as if she hadn't already figured that out for herself. Noah made his way around the other side of the tree and disappeared. Closing her eyes, Alice listened to the crinkle of his foot falls and to the opposing sound of something moving in their direction.

A second later the noises were replaced by the sound of a struggle. Realizing that there couldn't possibly be that many opponents, Alice moved out from behind the tree and went to help Noah.

When she came upon the sight of Noah on top of the prone form of a disheveled looking man in the middle of a clearing, her heart nearly stopped. Rushing forward, she called out to Noah, who in the heat of the moment didn't even seem to realize who he was attacking. Luckily, she was able to push him off the man on the ground before Noah could plunge his raised dagger into the man's heart.

Alice didn't even hear Noah's voice as she spoke, "Hatter," she whispered relief filling her words while tears formed in her eyes.

"Alice?" he mumbled back as he tried to sit up, with her help. Once his torso was upright he looked into her eyes, took her face in his hands, and didn't stop the motion until their lips connected. Breaking away for a moment he whispered "Finally" just like he did the first time they kissed, before locking their lips together once again.

Alice wrapped her arms around his neck and they both refused to let go of the other as the kiss grew heady and passionate… at least that was until Alice felt something strange. Pulling away, she looked down at her shirt and noticed that in some places it was soaked through with blood.

"You're hurt." she said simply before she gently touched her hands to the buttons on his shirt.

"Its not s'bad…" he replied as he picked up his hat that now lay beside him because of the struggle and held it in his hand.

Once she got his green button down open she was able to get a better look at the long gashes that littered his chest. Her breathing hitched to the point where she could barely speak as she asked Noah to go get his medical kit, but before he could oblige Hatter spoke.

"Charlie…I left him a little ways back…things seemed safe enough."

"No problem." Noah said as he nodded in return before heading back to his horse.

"You're okay?" Hatter mumbled a minute or so after the other man left.

"Me? I'm fine." she replied as he brought his fingers to her face to wipe away a tear.

"I'm so sorry…I tried gettin' to you sooner, but Jack-"

"Hatter, I'm _fine_…its you that you have to worry about at the moment."

"Whose that then?" he asked his voice sounding a bit suspicious.

"His name's Noah, he's Jack's messenger. He found the Duchess and I after that witch let us go."

"…She said," he started before he turned his face away from hers, "She said that you lost faith in me."

The words barely registered to Alice especially because at that moment Noah appeared on his horse. He handed her the first aid kit, a canteen, and he also laid down a blanket and helped her get Hatter onto it before he rode off to look for Charlie.

"What?" Alice questioned while she looked over the various supplies in the box. She was trying to find the ointment and those butterfly stitch things that Noah had used for the Duchess the night before. The moment she found what she had been looking for she forced Hatter to lay back and started working on his wounds.

"She said that you lost faith in me…I wouldn't blame you if you did." he sighed and hissed the moment she poured a little water on his chest.

"You're kidding….Hatter I haven't lost faith in you, you idiot." she muttered as she busied herself with some cotton swabs. Alice couldn't help but wish that at the moment she was looking at his toned chest under better conditions.

"Insults at a time like this." he whispered sarcastically as she rubbed the ointment on his skin.

"She's completely cracked, why would you believe or even consider anything she said?"

Hatter could only half laugh at her words and she was becoming very aware that there was important information that he wasn't sharing. A few minutes passed as she worked before Hatter said anything. "Alice-" he started, but before he could finish Noah returned with a pretty angry looking Charlie who had his arms wrapped around the younger man's chest.

Noah jumped off the horse and helped the old man down. Neither spoke for an awkward moment and Alice would've been amused if Charlie hadn't looked the way he did. Laying down another blanket the two able bodied people helped him onto it.

Both sighed after they finished their work and a moment later Noah turned to her and said, "We have to camp here. At least for the night."

"I know." she replied knowing that her old companions needed rest of some kind.

"I'll look for fire wood, but I don't know how long we can keep it going. I know we haven't met anything yet, but a fire will be really noticeable in the dark….I'll try finding some food. Just stay here." once he finished he walked over to his horse, tied him to a tree, and walked off into the trees.

Alice wasn't quite sure about what to do with herself and she didn't want to bother either of them with conversation at the moment. So, she decided she'd try to make her two men as comfortable as she could with what little she had to work with.

* * *

**Together again :).**


	27. At Last

**Its short, at least when you compare it to the last two chapters, but I didn't want to add anything else :). **

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After her longer than normal recovery period, Chess went down to the torture chamber and once she took in the scene within her wrath was terrible. Innocent bodies were left in her wake upon her return from that dungeon. Chess wasn't stupid and it didn't take her long to realize who had set them free.

"What did you do you sniveling cow?!" she seethed as she took the Queen's throat in her hand. One twitch was all it would take to end the woman's life and oh did she want to.

"I don't know what you're talking about Chess." the Queen gasped before Chess threw her to the floor of the throne room.

"Don't even try to act dumb, our _highness_. I know you set them free, but the real question is why?"

The older woman struggled to her feet before responding, "Are you really so blind? …Your plans are ruined now and you're running out of options….Just give me my crown and fade black into the shadows where you belong."

"Oh?" Chess commented while she closed the distance between the two of them so the fearful on lookers in the hall couldn't hear her words, "My plans are not ruined, just postponed…and you really believed that I was actually going to give you your crown…it was never going to happen. All I needed was your face and rather than have part of you rolling around in my subconscious, I decided breaking you out of that sad little prison was a better option….I don't need you anymore." Her violet eyes bore into the Queen's blue.

"Your lying…they will not follow you without me. They do not know you or trust you. They might not trust me completely either, but at least I'm a familiar face."

"They fear me. Nothing creates loyalty faster than fear….Look at them." Chess said as she waved at the people around them, "They'll do anything I say now. I just needed you to get me in the door…and now I'm going to push you out of it. Guards!"

"Yes milady?" a young man, who seemed to be in charge of the ragtag soldiers behind him, asked from the other end of the room.

"Get the rest of the troops together and prepare for battle. But before you do, find a pair of shackles, clamp them on her wrists and tie her to the back of carriage….Its only fitting for a Queen to be executed in front of an audience." her commands didn't seem to register entirely with the group around her, " Go! I want you ready in less than an hour." she snapped as she headed to the door, but not before she watched as the Queen was taken into custody.

"Milady, may I ask where we're headed?" the young man asked the moment he came to her side.

Not really caring to answer him, Chess reached out and drove her hand into his chest. He fell to the floor with a hole through his midsection and Chess didn't even bother staying to watch him die.

"Idiots," she muttered before she exited the room.

*****************

"What do you mean, there are none?" Jack questioned the man in front of him quietly even though they were inside his tent, alone. Once they arrived Jack had shown the Caterpillar to his new lodgings in a tent not far from his own.

"Just that sir. We've searched the entire kingdom and there are no weapons to be found."

"Well search again!" Jack snapped back. What could they do without the proper weapons? He knew that they had weapons, but fat lot of good they'll do them if they can't do any damage to the real threat.

"But sir we've already-"

"Go! Gather up the man and find me something!" Jack ordered his composure slipping away from him as he watched his every power fade.

The footman scrambled to his feet with a series of "Yes your majestys" before he headed out of the tent's opening. The fact that a shadow slipped off after him went unnoticed by the King.

*****************

"Here drink this." Alice commanded him as she once again handed him a canteen.

"You don' by chance have anythin' a bit stronger than water in that thing, do ya?"

"Like what?"

"Oh I can think of a few things…we do have alcohol in Wonderland ya know."

"Funny, but I'm not sure how you getting wasted would help the situation."

"You'd be surprised." he muttered in return as he forced down a gulp of water through the pain in his throat. He handed Alice back the canteen before sitting up, the pain in his chest was only a dull ache now, and looking around their camp site. Alice rested the container, with its lid on, on the ground and looked back at him when his eyes finally came to rest on the fire. Noah and Charlie were too busy arguing about the right way to cook a borogove cutlet to notice them.

"So are we gonna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"About whatever it was that happened to you up there. About what you've learned that's made you act so strangely."

Hatter could only scoff at her words as he got to his feet and headed off in the direction of the trees. Alice followed him. Once they were completely out of earshot of the two at camp she grabbed his arm and forced him to stop.

"Hatter, I'm here so talk to me."

"And say what?…That my life has always been hell, except for the little point of light that was you, and now I've just been loaded up with a hell of a lot of information that nobody should have to live with-" Hatter's words were cut off when Alice kissed him and backed him up against a tree.

Breaking away and looking into his eyes despite the dark Alice said, "Look, Hatter I love you." looking down the moment she spoke those three words as if a heavy weight of some kind had been lifted off of her chest and she was finally able to breathe.

Hatter was gobsmacked. Out of all the words he had ever expected to hear from her, he never really thought he'd hear those three, or four…that is not without him saying them first. This woman just confused him the more time he spent with her, regardless of the little things he noticed about Alice each time she was near him.

"And I just-" she continued on, her words flowing into each other, after a minute of silence. A minute that Hatter hadn't even realize passed because he was still stuck on the moment of her words.

"Alice," he whispered as she lifted her chin, locking his eyes on hers. The action ended her ramblings. His hesitation had hurt her and he knew it, but he needed her to understand that he wasn't brushing her off, he was just in shock. "Alice I love you. I loved you the moment you walked into my life carryin' half of the ocean with you, even if I didn't exactly know it then…"

"You do?" she whispered her breath hitching in her throat like she wasn't sure if he meant it.

"Yeah," he sighed with a grin, "Funny emotion love, you can catch it in a second and not even realize it…you can write it off as so many other things, but its still so different. It's the most unique and the _strongest_ emotion around…you can't just create it and it's different for each person, that's why you can't pull it out of people. Very few people get to feel it here."

"So, your stuck with me." Alice replied with a smile.

"And I wouldn't change it." he muttered as he lowered his lips to hers, all conversation forgotten.

* * *

**Okay I gotta say it, even though I really don't like the guy I'm happy to write Jack again(even if the part is really short lol). He's like the easiest character for me to write especially while having to write Hatter because sometimes writing Hatter gets confusing and/or hard just because I want to stay true to him.**

**Now I've gotta ask it...if you haven't noticed I can be a bit brutal and I don't want to be stoned to death with virtual rocks. So here's a poll, what characters am I absolutely not aloud to kill? **


	28. In the Still of the Night

**Again, short, but seeing as I posted earlier today/ yesterday (I haven't gone to sleep yet so to me its still the same day lol) I hope you guys'll forgive me :).  
**

* * *

In spite of the world going to pot around her, Alice liked to think that she had never been happier in her entire life. Sure, the circumstance could be better, but the attachment still existed. She had admitted, verbally, to Hatter that she loved him and he had done the same.

They made the short walk back to the camp, hand in hand, after a too short period in the cover of the trees. They both knew that they couldn't be gone long without Charlie and Noah getting worried and/or suspicious so they made the journey back after a few passionate but all too longing kisses.

"So just because what just happened, happened doesn't mean that I forgot why we were out there to begin with." Alice started while they were still in the safety of the trees. "What's got you so wound up?"

"Are you sure you really wanna know?"

"Would I be asking if I wasn't?"

"I d'know, you tend to ask a lot of questions." All she could do in reply to this statement was glare, "Fine…but maybe we should sit down for this. At least that way those two will know we aren't dead."

"That's a comforting thought."

"Isn't it?" Hatter replied sarcastically as he took her hand and lead her the rest of the way to their blanket. Neither of them actually wanted to use it, not in its current state, but it was better than sitting on the ground. Alice couldn't help but think that she would shower for an entire day when all this was over.

Once they were settled, Alice resisted a shiver and moved herself closer to the fire, this reaction was greeted by Hatter's arm wrapping around her to keep her warm.

"Well, recently I have been made privy to some information concernin' my parents." he said to her quietly.

"'Made privy'?" Alice commented with a giggle, "Sorry," she replied to his glare.

"Anyway…apparently I'm part knight." he added with a shrug.

"Really? So's Noah."

"What?"

"Did I hear my name?" Noah questioned as he made his way over to them carrying two sticks with cooked meat stuck on the end of them. "Its not fancy, but it'll have to do for now. So, why am I being mentioned in your private couple's conversation?"

"You're part knight."

"So I said…with the hope that you wouldn't go blabbing about it to everyone, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now."

Alice was about to open her mouth to retort until Hatter stopped her. "That's interestin' mate." he muttered before taking a bite out of the 'meat on a stick' with his eyes never leaving Alice.

"Am I missing something?" Noah asked, his eyes shifting between the two.

"How could you do such a thing?" Charlie snapped from the other side of the fire after spitting out a piece of borogove. "This gristle isn't worth the time you took to slay the poor creature."

"Look old timer, I've spent enough time the forest to kn-"

"Oh no," Alice and Hatter whispered in tandem before Charlie got started.

"How dare you?! You nug faced degenerate bag head! I'll have you know that I have been an inhabitant of these woods since before you were a glimmer in your father's eye."

"And I'll have _you_ know that I was trained on how to correctly survive in these woods by my father, who was trained by his father before him. My grandfather was a noble knight who was stationed under the command of the Great White Knight. The real one. This dagger was presented to my grandfather by the knight himself…In conclusion, I know what the hell I'm doing, so back off." Noah replied. During his rant, Noah had pulled out the fateful dagger to show Charlie that his words were true.

Charlie's reaction was not one that Alice had expected. Instead of hurling another insult at Noah, Charlie stared at the object in front of him with immense reverence, just like he did when he saw the Stone of Wonderland on Alice's finger.

"You," Charlie whispered, "You are the last descendant of the Great Duff line? Grandson of the Great and Noble Sir William Theodore Leopold Duff the fifth? "

Noah seemed to be taken aback by Charlie's sudden change of disposition, "Ah…yes. I mean I should be, yeah."

Silence fell between the four campers and during all the time this course of conversation had taken place Alice had been able to feel Hatter as he watched the volley, but now he sat unmoving.

"Hatter?" Alice whispered as she turned to him. Something was definitely up, but she had no idea what it was.

A second passed before he looked down at her, shock covering his features. "Ummm," he started before clearing his throat and looking away from Alice to Noah, "Ahhh, Noah mate….I'm not entirely sure how to say this, but I think we're cousins."

The revelation took Alice off guard, but at least now she knew why Noah reminded her of Hatter so much at times. Even now, as she looked between them, she was able to spot some similarities in their features.

Though a moment later Noah's reaction took all of them off guard. About a minute after the words were spoken Noah snapped out of his daze and lunged at Hatter.

* * *

**And speaking of earlier. I'm happy you guys like Noah, maybe not so much here but here was necessary, and you also saved Charlie. I wasn't out right planning to kill him (it wouldn't happened this chapter anyway) but it was on my mind, now I know that he must live lol. **


	29. Somethin' to Talk About

**Holy crap, I don't think I've ever written so many people talking at once. It's kinda hard lol....anyway I really hope you guys don't completely hate Noah after this.**

* * *

Punches were thrown, bodies rolled, and barely a minute passed before Noah had Hatter up against a tree with the fabled dagger against his throat. Hatter was using all he had left of his depleted strength to keep the blade at a distance. He was holding up, even with the added pain of Noah's elbow pressing into the wounds on his chest. _So much for the family reunion._

"Hey!" Alice said while she got to her feet, Hatter could only guess that the younger man's sudden movement had knocked her out of the way. "Noah, what the hell are you doing?! Let him go or so help me-"

"Try anything and I'll slit his throat." Noah whispered, rage covering his voice and features. Rage that Hatter knew could only be caused by one thing…he knew.

"Back away lad, the harbinger has been through enough trials already." Charlie said quietly as he came up on the other side of Hatter. He could actually feel the force of their stares as they bore into Noah.

Thankfully a breath later, Hatter fell to his knees when Noah released him, but the younger man wouldn't allow him to move any farther. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Guess it didn't take." Hatter squeaked out despite his coughing.

"You an abomination that doesn't deserve the name you were given. A stain to the name of Duff. If grandfather had lived to see what your mother had done-"

"D'you think I care? You want the name, take it."

"What's going on? Hatter what's he talking about? What did your mother do?" Alice questioned while helping him to his feet.

"I was gettin' to that bit."

"You haven't told her yet? You're working for that thing aren't you? You two have banded together to rule over Wonderland-"

"Wait a minute mate. I don't work for anybody and the rest of what you're…insinuatin' is completely ridiculous. Do your eyes work? Look at me." Hatter commented before laying back on the blanket that Alice led him over to. He couldn't take much more of this, there's only so much a guy can go through in one day.

"Oh that's right, you play sides….I've heard of the Hatter and his back stabbing deals."

"Noah, stop. I don't know what you're talking about, but Hatter's a good man and I doubt that whatever it is that you have against him is his fault." Alice said as she sat down next to him.

"You're right, its his mother's. You remember that ancient race I mentioned called the Eyre-"

"Alice,my father was an Eyre and the it that we're up against at this every moment is also an Eyre. They're sorta like magical things or they were…" Hatter said quickly so Noah couldn't get the words out for him, but it definitely wasn't how he wanted her to find out.

"Its not possible, a human would never…" Charlie muttered before sitting down with the clanking of armor.

"You see Alice, some people…some people like to spin the story about the fall of the Eyre. They portray the Great Knights as villains but both sides were equally at fault for what happened." Noah started as he knelt in front of her.

"The Ancient people were reckless." Charlie stated from the other side of the fire.

"And the Eyre wanted a war, unfeeling bastards. Sure most of us are no better now than they were then. But you should know that many of the experiments and things we're their idea….Knowledge and magic were all that mattered to them. Once the Knights saw their weaknesses they took advantage of them and grabbed the upper hand before the torturous race could react. Then after the breaking of the portal the rest is history." the young man ended and got to his feet turning away from them all.

"I'm confused, what does any of this have to do with you?" Alice mumbled to Hatter the moment she looked at him.

"All I know is that my mother fell in love with my father and well, I happened….When his father found out-"

"My father destroyed his father. He told me the whole story when I was just a boy, but it seems that he lied to me the moment he told me you were dead….I had always wondered why I didn't get to share in the great legacy of the name William Duff…and it was because my father, William Duff the 6th, refused to use the name after he found out that your mother took it so brazenly, for you _William_."

"This doesn't change anything, he's-_you're_ still Hatter. Why should any of this matter?"

"Because prejudice and jealously never really leave the world, Justalice." Charlie commented sadly.

"Apparently neither does paranoia." Hatter mumbled in response.

"Look Alice, he has every reason in the world to turn against us, we shouldn't trust him."

"I trust him with my life and that's not going to change now." Alice responded her voice defiant.

"Fine, you know what I'll take your word that he's trustworthy because I trust you and your judgment, but you have to realize that she's after him for a reason…"

"I'm right here ya know." Hatter said as he sat up, "And if you have any ideas, please, enlighten me."

"There's only two things I can think of; either a) She wants you to help her jump start her race or b) She's found away to reopen the portal to her world and she needs you to do it."

"Neither option sounds good to me." Hatter replied voice voice filled with an appropriate amount of sarcasm

"What do you mean 'jump start her race'?" Alice whispered and Hatter could see that she was blushing, whether it was from fear or anger he didn't know.

"Well he's male,"

"Okay, you can stop…" Hatter muttered his voice trailing off as realization hit him causing him to turn to Alice with a smile, "It wouldn't work anyway."

"Ummm, why not?"

"Because I love you….She mentioned that rituals are usually needed to create a kid, but love overrides them-"

"Yes. I have seen previous, though illegal, relationships between the races when I was a lad. There was no love there because the Eyre were almost completely unfeeling. It takes tremendous heart to feel love." Charlie interrupted with a smile of his own. "You come from a remarkable union harbinger, why didn't I see it before?"

"You did. Before I jumped through the Looking Glass you told me that I was 'not all that I appeared to be.' or somethin' along those lines."

"Ah, I do have my uses."

"So," Hatter said getting back on track, "If love can override them and create a somethin' than I'm pretty such it could keep the rituals from workin'. Plus I wouldn't exactly be willin' now would I?"

"Okay so if it isn't idea A then…?" Alice continued on after she flashed a brilliant smile between her two oldest companions.

"Then she needs me to reopen the portal-"

"She'll also need the sword that broke it." Noah threw out the fact as if everyone already knew it. "Charlie, do you know where it is?"

"I have gone through much and I've kept its location secret. What makes you think that I'm just going to tell _you_?"

Noah glared but before he could say anything Hatter spoke his voice impressed and surprised, "This is why she had you tortured? And you didn't say anythin'?"

"Surely not…at least I do not think so."

"You don't think so?!" Noah snapped.

"I lose time sometimes."

"March said that you didn't talk Charlie." Hatter said, his voice restrained as he fought the urge to get up and punch Noah. "But you do know where it is."

Before speaking Charlie shot Noah a deadly look, apparently his earlier mood was gone, "Yes I do."

"Please, say its somewhere safe." Alice muttered as she ran her fingers through her hair. Hatter couldn't resist the urge to touch that hair so he reached out and smoothed it back for her. The moment he did she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Why yes it is! Its held in the Red King's mighty grasp as he sits waiting on his majestic throne."

"I was hoping for something more like a safe deposit box in Indonesia." Alice mumbled causing all three Wonderlander's to stare at her in confusion. "Just forget it….We have to go and get it don't we."

"Do we have a choice?" Hatter spoke the question already knowing the answer.

"Maybe you shouldn't come." Noah added as he once again toyed with his dagger.

"If you think I'm letting' her outta my sight you're insane."

"Its been said…you do realize that it would be safer-"

"If you think I'm letting _him_ out of _my_ sight, then you're even more insane."

"Right, when do we leave?" Noah said as he got to his feet. Knowing there was no time to waste, only a moment passed before the other three followed suit.

* * *

**I hope that I stayed true to all _4_ characters....**


	30. Wake Up Call

**I really want to take a second to thank you guys. This is my first fic and I never expected to get so many reviewers. So thank you so much for dealing with my wacky story that has sprung from my wacky imagination lol. Oh and please don't hurt me for moving back to the povs of Jack and the Duchess for this chapter :).**

* * *

"You can't just keep all the supplies to yourself, Dodo!" Jack yelled at the older man. The King had been out walking the camp, because there had been no perimeter report since before day break, when he came across a small scuffle. Apparently a soldier of no more than sixteen, tried to snatch something from the Dodo's breakfast table. A table that had been put on view for all to see.

"What are you talking about?! These morsels are mine and I will do with them what I wish!" the Dodo countered from his chair before he ate a bit of egg.

Reaching out, Jack took an apple off the table and gave it to the young man, who then ran off. "We don't have much and here you sit with your prizes on display. No wonder the resistance was in such a poor state….I order you, as King of Wonderland, to split what you have here among the soldiers-"

"And I'm sure you will take the largest slice."

"I'll take nothing." Jack replied simply as he turned his back and walked away.

"Bravo," a voice said in the shadows, a voice that sent chills down his spine. "Though, you really should try the apples, they really are fantastic."

"What do you want?" he questioned the figure the moment she took shape and a step out of the darkness.

Lowering an apple of her own a wicked grin crossed her face, "Oh nothing. I mean, I don't need your men and I don't need your weapons. Not that either would really matter because, as you could guess, you're already surrounded-" Instinctively the King's hand went to his sword, only to be held back a second later by the touch of her hand on his, "Ah, you can't rule anyone if you're dead. Besides, I come bearing a gift."

"After all that you've taken what could you possibly give us?"

"Entertainment, how about dinner and a show?" with a snap of her fingers she disappeared.

During their little chat a few individuals came out of their tents to witness it. Now the entire camp was awake and staring at the line of people entering their space, the Eyre at the helm. When they finally stopped she spoke, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. The flashing of her eyes didn't escape Jack's notice, _Let the lies begin_.

"Not long ago, I was merely a scavenger in the forest, listening to the words on the wind. Selfishly I made my plans and I regret the violence that has ensued because of their commencement. I also regret the necessary means that I have used to achieve my goals….I do not wish for your down fall, simply a chance of my own. I hope for peace and with that hope in mind, I bring you a mighty gift." her words drifted and fell as a hooded figure was brought forward, her clothing unmistakable. The moment the hood was removed Jack was able to recognize the dirty face of his mother.

"I took her in, seeking her help. But woe be on the one who awakens the beast. She has twisted my desires into something wicked. It is in the laws of my people to end the lives of such traitors and I do not want to keep the…satisfaction of justice to myself….I suggest sundown? It always seems appropriate for these things to take place while the sun gives way to the moon….I sincerely hope that all you kind people will make my companions comfortable while I speak with our benevolent King. Hopefully he will have mercy on me."

Her eyes caught his at the end of her speech before she vanished. It wasn't too hard for him to guess that she had traveled or was traveling to his tent. Gathering himself, he turned and walked through the confused masses back to the place where this morning journey had started.

**************

A goodnight's rest in a bed was what the Duchess needed to put herself back together again. Well mostly, she couldn't help but feel that a few pieces were still missing.

Lying still with her eyes closed, the Duchess's barely conscious mind swam with pictures of Jack, as it always did before her eyes took the first snapshot of the day, but this morning something was different. Not only did Jack fill her head, but Noah seemed to seep in too. Slowly, she peeled her lids back unable to figure out what this new packaging of images meant.

Once open her eyes were met with a strange sight. A little girl was sitting in a chair on the right side of the Duchess's cot, a comic book in her hand (some oyster creation called _Wonder Woman_) and a gun on her lap.

"Hello?" the blonde mumbled as she forced herself up causing the girl to jump slightly, her small hand grasping the gun, but she regained herself before taking aim. Now, with the book lowered, the little's girl's face was clear; tear stained and scared. "What's your name?"

"Sarah."

"Okay Sarah, what's wrong?" the Duchess continued while trying to keep her voice sincere.

"I-I heard something…in the woods-"

"What did you hear?"

"Rustling and twigs snapping…breathing all around….I-I, I think there are people in the forest."

"How long ago did you hear these noises?" the stream of questions was helping to keep her emotions in check while grogginess left her.

"I'm not sure…an hour…I'm in charge and I didn't know what to do….I mean, I've been watching the little ones because the older people can't handle them in their states and-" Sarah replied her words running together as she became more and more hysterical.

"Shhh, its alright." the Duchess murmured as she moved to kneel in front of the girl despite the pain in her ankle. "Did you come in here because you thought I could do something?"

"Yes-no…I wanted to keep you safe. The little kids are all still sleeping, but no one was here to watch over you. You're so brave and I didn't want to leave you alone because it didn't seem right."

The Duchess was touched by the girl's honesty even though her kindness was misplaced. "You don't have to do anything for me."

"Someone should. There are stories, about how you helped get rid of the Queen and no one seems to notice all that you've done and…and-and you're my hero."

"Whoa, okay ummm," _How the hell do I respond to this? _"Ahhh…how about you give me the gun and wait in here while I go check outside, okay?"

Sarah's shaky hand took hold of the gun until the Duchess gently removed it from her grasp, "Okay," the little girl whispered with an equally shaky breath.

Standing up on unsteady legs the Duchess made her way to the tent's opening. Pulling back the cloth the Duchess was able to see that the girl was right. Chess's troops had surrounded them while they slept and now they were moving towards the tents.

_Stay calm, a plan. I hate it when I need a plan_. "Sarah," the Duchess commented as she made her way back to the girl. The troops were moving on orders, they barely had senses outside of them and if the girl moved fast enough she might be able to get away, "Do you know how to shoot this?"

"Y-yes, but-"

"I need you to run into the forest-"

"But the people-"

"Shhh, listen. I need you to run into the forest and I need you to find help, okay?"

"I can't just leave the little ones." the girl whispered in a voice that broke the Duchess's heart.

"I'm sorry. I'll watch over them for you, but I need you to do this Sarah. Alright?"

"You'll keep them safe?"

"Yes, I promise." her reply was simple but true. The crunch of walking was getting louder and the blonde knew that the little girl needed to get out of the tent and into the forest before anyone arrived at their tent.

"Ok."

"Good…now I'll go make a distraction but I need you to run once their eyes are on me. Do you understand?"

"Yes,"

"Can you find your way in the forest?"

"My brother taught me. He even took me to the old kingdom once. Though he didn't let me get too close. "

The Duchess smiled at Sarah's willingness as she handed her the gun. "Good, good….I'm gonna crawl out the back and remember when the coast is clear you run and you don't stop until you reach the right people." the blonde moved to the back of the tent and lifted up the heavy material, "And Sarah be careful."

The words left her mouth as she crawled. Once outside she limped as quickly as she could to a place where she could be seen and heard by everyone. Along the way she grabbed a heavy pot and a stick. So much for equipment.

"HEY! HEY!" she screamed from her slight hill as she banged the pot, "OVER HERE!!!"

_Fantastic its working_, "HEY ASSHOLES!!! That's right over here!"

Not only was she getting the attention of the enemy troops but there seemed to be movement from the tents as well. Slowly, adults and children moved out into the open. Some took the opportunity to run into the forest while the enemy was distracted, but most were to afraid to move. It upset the Duchess that she had to put them in danger like this but it wasn't like she had a choice, at least it seemed as though the orders were to keep them alive.

A click and a pressure at the back of her head ended her banging.

"Put the weapons down,"

She took in a small breath as she watched Sarah dart from the tent into the awaiting trees before she lowered her so called weapons. Once up right her hands were yanked behind her back and greeted by the cold metal of shackles. Their temperature matched her own.

"Oh the mistress is going to be so glad to see you again."

*************

"How did you find-"

"You have your spies, correction, had…and I have mine. The Dodo will be so very pleased when you're finally out of the way."

"The Dodo. I can't even believe it of him." Jack replied at this revelation.

"Oh please, don't even try to act like the man is some righteous dolt. He wants what he wants and if he can cover it up with sincerity then he'll want even more."

"Even he has his limits. He won't sit back and watch you murder his people. None of them will. They won't give in to you." Jack said the words even though he had a feeling that they weren't entirely true.

"Whoever said anything about murder. This war is of your making, not mine."

"Your kind is never at fault are they." Jack muttered as he watched her pace his makeshift study.

"History is written by two types of people, the conquers and the sympathizers. We avoided injuring the humans that were removed from the knights and in return we were granted the talent of some very fine story tellers. Take your Caterpillar for instance."

"Oh lovely, don't tell me he's a spy too."

"No just a fan."

"Wonderful, does anything escape you?"

"Apparently a few things do….Anyway, I know that you've searched the place for weapons and that you haven't found any-"

Jack narrowed his eyes and said, "How is it you know that? I highly doubt that you were shown the place where the Great Knights kept their weapons."

"Do you honestly think that your fraud is the only one who knows the ancient kingdom? Its rather naïve to think that I wouldn't search for and destroy the very weapons that could kill me…no, I can assure you that there are no such weapons here."

"If you've had so much experience with the grounds, why is it you can't find what it is you're looking for?"

"Because your old fraud has hidden it from me. Now, I want you to send your _soldiers_ back into the kingdom with the strict mission of finding me the Red King's sword."

"I'd rather die."

"That could be arranged," she replied as she sat across from him with a smirk, "Though I can think of a fate much worse…haven't you wondered why my men are so loyal?"

A shiver went down the King's spine but he refused to show it, "No, I can't say I have."

"You must surely know my weakness, its not that hard to guess…feelings, emotions they're over rated….But you humans are so utterly creative, it really is astounding. I mean 25 years ago I simply had to kidnapp a few wayward scientists and steal a simple machine."

Jack's eyes grew as the pieces fell into place…the reason why she had been able to keep them drugged so long. "You've been drugging them with your own emotion teas."

"I should really thank your mother. She is the one that had the technology invented in the first place…but she really is so dreadfully annoying that I can't seem to pluck up the energy….Now, what was it you were saying about not sending your men out to search?"

The creature stretched lithely with her wicked grin before setting her violet stare on Jack's lying eyes.


	31. I've got a theory

**It's more like 'I've got an idea' but it would just ruin the awesomeness of the title lol.**

* * *

"This is absolutely ridiculous…chivalry is a completely out dated concept you know."

"Alice that's your world, here we like to make sure a lady is taken care of," Hatter replied with a smirk as he looked up at Alice. They had been walking for hours, seeing as it was about mid-afternoon, and they were all in pain, especially Hatter and Charlie, but the men refused to let Alice get off the horse.

"How can you expect me to just ride this thing when you three are falling apart?"

"We'll manage."

"Charlie, would you please just get on the horse?"

"I wouldn't dream of it Justalice. A maiden, such as yourself, should be spared the torment of labor and perspiration whenever possible." The old man commented before he paused to breathe.

Noah, who had been walking ahead of the trio, stopped in his tracks and held up a warning hand, "I think there's something up ahead-"

"We would have arrived by now if you had let me lead the party" Charlie muttered as he leaned against the horse.

"Shhh," the young man replied while he continued to listen. Hatter followed suit only to be met with silence.

"I don't think there's anything-" just as the words left his mouth they were all greeted by the loud popping sound of a gun firing. Hatter just barely hit the ground in time. Apparently, the person that fired said gun had been aiming somewhere above his head. A moment later he rolled onto his back with a groan before reaching for his hat which had been knocked off.

"Hatter," Alice called with a heavy breath before dropping to her knees at his side. It appeared that the noise had spooked the horse and sent it bolting. "Oh thank God…I guess that solves the horse problem." she muttered as she helped him to his feet before Charlie pulled them both behind a tree.

"Guns and Bullets are a coward's weapon, but they do tend to do damage when you are in their path."

"Thanks for the words of advice Charlie," Hatter replied.

Barely a moment passed until Alice half whispered half yelled for Noah through the trees.

"I'm okay," was the reply that met her, "In fact I've found our sharp shooter."

His tone was so calm that they all decided that it was safe to come out from behind the tree. They took slow watchful steps while they made their way over to Noah, who was kneeling in front of another tree.

"I'm so sorry Noah," a little voice whispered, "I didn't mean to scare off Peanut,"

_Peanut, that's a rather manly name for such a noble steed_, Hatter thought as they all edged closer.

"It's alright Sarah, it isn't the first time he's run off and I'm sure it won't be the last. He always seems to find me sooner or later." Noah replied in a kindly voice to the little girl who sat at the base of the tree.

"Ummm excuse me, but can I ask why the tot had a gun pointed at me head? I mean, to be honest, it's a part of my anatomy that I'm rather fond of."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"We know," Alice sighed as she punched Hatter in the arm and he had a feeling that it would take a minute or two before it was fully functional again, "Your name's Sarah right? I talked to you back at the camp?"

"Yeah…Noah, you were at the camp and you didn't talk to me?" the little girl's voice was as incredulous as her face as she stared at the man in front of her.

"I was busy."

"Grownup business?"

"Yeah,"

"Again, excuse me, but do you two know each other?" Hatter asked his voice sounding a bit confused.

"He's my brother."

"Half brother," Noah corrected as he got to his feet and pulled her along with him right into his arms.

"But you spoke as if…half brother?" Charlie mumbled the last part to no one in particular.

"We have the same mother. Now, what are you doing out here?" Noah question, his voice full of nerves. Even without direct contact with the girl, Hatter could practically feel her body shaky just by looking at her. Immediately she burst into tears and the three non family members…the two non family members and Hatter could only watch as Noah tried to calm her down.

"Th-they came to the camp and…"

"Sarah, who came to the camp?" Alice asked her blue eyes locking onto the little girl's green ones.

"The bad guys, they came and I heard them and I went to the Duchess to protect her and then she woke up and then she told me to run and find help while she distracted them and then she started yelling and making a lot of noise and I ran when the coast was clear, but now I don't know what happened and I've been running in circles. I got lost despite everything you taught me Noah and I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do and because I got lost their all probably hurt and and…." Sarah said everything so fast that Hatter was barely able to keep up, but he caught the jist.

"What?" Noah whispered in a voice that was barely loud enough for any of them to hear. He set the girl down as his face lost color.

"Noah?"

Alice was the only one that seemed to know what was wrong, "Sarah, how about you hang out with Charlie while we talk to your brother, okay?" her voice was calm but Hatter could tell that something was up the moment she looked at him.

Even Charlie seemed to catch the hint, "Young beauty, my name is Sir Charles Eustace Fotheringhay l'Malvoy III and your's is?

"Sarah Marie Rowan." she replied with a small smile before Charlie took her hand and they walked off with Charlie muttering about making something called the Wooden Skewer, Hatter had a feeling it would be nothing more than a pointy stick.

Once they were out of sight Alice started, "I know what you're thinking but it won't help-"

"You can't expect me to just stand here and do nothing."

"Have I missed somethin'? Not that goin' to save some people wouldn't be a good thing but you look like your mother just died."

"Hatter," Alice sighed, but she didn't continue.

"How can you tell me not to go when you would do the same thing for him?"

"Because we need you, and I know that's not what you want to hear but you can do more with us than you could if you go running off into the forest. You would only end up getting yourself killed."

"Would you stop me?"

"No,"

"I might," Hatter said ignoring the looks on both of their faces.

"But Noah we can end this,"

"By relying on him." he replied with a nod in Hatter's direction.

"Yes, they're probably being taken as prisoners and seeing as we know that the enemy is probably already at the same place we're going, they'll probably be taken there too."

"You don't know that. She could be-"

"I know, but Noah you won't help anyone if you leave now."

A minute passed as Noah seemed to take in Alice's words. Hatter really had no idea what they were talking but he had a feeling that it had something to do with a girl.

"Fine, I'll stay. The ancient Kingdom of the Knights isn't that far anyway. We can probably make it in about an hour." the young man's words were short and to the point, it was almost like he couldn't believe that he was saying them. With one last look between the two, Noah walked over to Sarah and Charlie.

"What the hell was that about?" Hatter questioned Alice before they rejoined the group.

"He's in love and he's like you."

"Fantastic, so he's gonna be runnin' off any minute now."

"I wouldn't doubt it," she replied with a sad smile, "But trying to reason with him didn't hurt…maybe if we had a plan, instead of just charging into this, I don't know it might help, I just-"

"Alice," Hatter said as he pulled her to a stop, a light bulb lighting up in his head, "I think I have an idea."

"Why do I have the feeling that this isn't going to be good?"

"Cause it isn't, but at this point its pretty much our only option."

************

"So let me get this straight, you want us to find a Jabberwock so that it'll chase us into camp, right?" Noah questioned after Hatter told him and Alice his plan.

"Yep,"

"And you want me and Charlie to do this while you and Alice do whatever it is that you're gonna do, oh and seeing as she can't come with us, you're gonna take my sister with you?"

"Pretty much...and we're goin' to get the sword while you two provide the distraction."

"Hatter, can I ask why all your plans seem to include rampaging Jabberwocks?" Alice asked with a look that said he was crazy.

"They're easily accessible…? Look, we don't have an army and the place'll be crawlin' with the 'enemy' so what else can we do? The only chance we have is for those two to distract 'em while we get the sword."

"And then what?" Noah replied with a laugh.

"I'll figure somethin' out when we get to that point."

"Okay say this'll work, where do they get the Jabberwock?" Alice continued to question him with the same look.

"Well if any were close they would've come at the sound of the gun….So, they take the gun, run, and keep firin' it until one shows up. When it does they run toward the camp."

"This is literally the worst plan I've ever heard." Noah commented while staring at Charlie and his sister.

"I didn't say it was the best idea, but it's the only one we've got….Seriously though, if you can think of somethin' better, please do tell us."

"He's right," Alice sighed.

"I'm so glad to hear that you have so much faith in me."

Noah stared at the ground for a minute or two before saying, "One thing, I'll go alone…Charlie will only slow me down. Besides he'll be able to get you where you need to go."

"You're not goin' anywhere alone…new plan, we go find a Jabberwock while Alice and Charlie find the sword…like you said I probably shouldn't be near the sword anyway."

"Good point…when do we put this marvelous piece of planning into action?"

"Now would probably be good, if that's alright with you."


	32. Feeling a Moment

**Okay, I had this discussion with a few people and in the end I hope I'm using the term ironic correctly lol.**

* * *

Jack's eyes widened to take in the sight of the looks on the faces of his people. Some blank ( mainly the creatures group), some confused, others defiant. The new batch of prisoners was lined up behind the rest.

How stupid he was to leave the elderly and the children without protection. He was expecting to need every able bodied person to fight, until they ended up surrounded, but still they should've been protected. _They were reasonably hidden…damn the Dodo. Damn him for the dirty rat that he is._

Standing at the front of the crowd his eyes gazed at each and every person within until they finally come to rest on a face that he hadn't expected to see.

"Sophie,"

***************

This was it. She was finally going to get rid of the Queen who had grown into a terrible annoyance.

"We weren't worth half the trouble….Just look at them, my _Queen_. Not one is lifting a finger to save you." Chess said as she knelt in front of the woman. The Queen refused to met her eyes.

"Milady," a brave man said as he entered their presence. Chess couldn't tell if he was one of hers or one of Jack Heart's and she didn't really care.

"This better be good news."

"The prisoners have arrived…?"

"Well, it isn't bad news. Any word on my sword?"

"Ahhhh…no ma'am."

"…I'm feeling kind. You have ten seconds to run-" she didn't even have a chance to finish before he was gone. "Good messengers are so hard to come by…maybe I should stop killing them. Oh well, this'll be over soon."

"You won't win…they did not let me win, they won't let you win either."

"We'll see. Guards!" Chess called, "Take her to the designated area. The sun is almost set."

*************

"Noah, can I ask-"

"I'm still not sure how many bullets we've fired or how many we have left and I don't want to risk checking."

"No," Hatter sighed as they both stepped over another log, "No…its not that. Its just, I don't know, I'm a bit curious and well seeing as we are family-"

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't say that we're family because we're not….You know, if you never existed things would be so different for me."

"How did your dad die?" originally he had been curious, now he was just pissed and the question was the only thing he could think of that would sting.

Noah fired then gun before answering, "She killed him…One day she came looking for your father. She found out he was dead, so she decided that it would be fun to torture my dad for information. She kept repeating something along the lines of how she would've been able to sense if she was the only one left…it was only when she threaten me and my mother that he told her anything…she knocked the two of us out, I guess that was when he filled her in, and when I came to she was gone.

A week passed, my mother was at her sister's and I was out in the woods when I heard my father screaming…he was dead before I got back and she was gone. I was eight."

"And I was thirteen and already on the run from the time I was born. Look, your life sucked I get it, but don't act like you're the only one. You at least had someone."

He didn't know what made him say it, but he did. Once the words left his mouth Noah dropped the gun and they were fighting again. This time Hatter was a bit more wake and capable and after about a minute he had knocked Noah on his back. Little did he realize the extent of Noah's hate, because once on the ground Noah reached for the gun and fired…

And they were out of bullets…

"You really hate me that much?"

"Yes,"

Before he could reply, Hatter's ears picked up the sound that they had been waiting to hear. Looking up they could both see the Jabberwock coming right at them.

Noah hurried to his feet. "What do we do now genius?"

"We run."

*************

It took Alice, Charlie, and Sarah about an hour to get to the camp. Now they were wishing that it had taken longer. Charlie took them on a new path, saying that it would be covert, and now the trio was standing in the bushes waiting to witness something that none of them wanted to see.

"Charlie, get her out of here." Alice whispered to the old man as they stood watching the spectacle unfold.

"And go where Justalice? I cannot just leave you-"

"Look Charlie, take her up a tree, I don't care….I'm not going to let a seven year old see someone's head get chopped off."

"What about you? I thought you were going-"

"The sword, I forgot…which way?" Alice asked as she turned away from the sight of the Queen of Hearts being dragged up onto some sort of platform.

"Come Alice,"

"Charlie?" Sarah questioned as she took his hand.

"You can't come with me. What if something happens?"

"That was something we should've thought about before coming here. Now come, we'll get the sword and hardly anyone will notice."

"But look at that crowd its filled with innocent people, someone has to keep Hatter from charging the thing right through the middle."

"I'll stay," Sarah volunteered.

"No," the two adults said in unison.

"Fine, I will stay while you get the sword and I'll put the young lady up a tree…for safety, but be quick. Get it and come back to us." and those were Charlie's last words to her before he gave her the directions she needed to find the place she had once been only a few days ago…at least it was a few days to her.

*************

"Any last words? Any apologies, or just anything at all." Chess asked with a smirk before taking the sword that was offered to her.

From her heads position, the Queen of Hearts could see almost every face in the crowd while they looked at her. She was on display for all to see, yet despite all she had done she could see nothing wrong with her sins.

"I will not repent while I lay here at your feet you hideous creature. I will not look back on the things I have done and regret them. I have no need to."

"Very well. Ladies and gentleman of Wonderland, here before you is a tyrant who still holds to her ideals. She does not regret your years of suffering or the damage that she has done to your very way of life. She has gained no insight while awaiting her demise. What lower creature could there be?"

A moment later, the Queen watched as Chess lifted her blade and before she brought it down she whispered, "Off with her head,"

Turning away, as if in slow motion, the Queen found the eyes of her son which were filled only a bit more sadness and pity than the rest…and she finally found that she did have something to regret after all.

But she had realized it to late…and the Queen of Hearts died without ever telling her son how much she truly and honestly loved him.

***********

Slowly, Chess lifted her heavy weapon and whispered, "Well, wasn't that ironic,"


	33. Run Through the Forest

**Okay, mostly filler, but with everything thats in my head , the chapter would just be massive. If I get a lot of reviews I'll try to post tomorrow...but I do actually have to type it first lol.**

* * *

"What?" Hatter yelled as he and Noah passed Charlie, who happened to be making some of the strangest hand gestures that Hatter had ever seen.

"To the right more Harbinger or you'll run it right through the middle!" Charlie replied as he fell in step with Hatter.

"So?" Noah chimed in.

"There was an…an execution. The Queen of Hearts is dead."

"You're jokin'." Hatter mumbled as he came to a stand still which wasn't exactly the best thing to do a that very moment.

"There is no humor in my words, only truth."

"Hey, ummm are we going to stand here and have a nice discussion or are we going to run for our lives?" Noah questioned as he came to Hatter's side.

"Lad, there is a huge crowd of people in the middle of the camp-"

"Charlie, where's Alice?"

"And Sarah?"

"Alice when to retrieve the sword and your darling sister is safely hidden up a tree. Now, you may want to keep moving because that beast is coming a straight for us."

************

_This place brings back so many memories_, Alice thought to herself the moment she entered Charlie's…home. The contraptions, the mismatched homemade utensils, the trees…the small barn where she watched Hatter sleep with his legendary hat propped on his knee...his hair in disarray. It all felt warm to her, familiar.

Immediately she spotted what she was after. The sword was there, just like it had always been, in the Red King's hands. It wasn't that Charlie had placed it there, the Red King died with the weapon in his grip. Her old friend had literally revolved his living quarters around protecting this object. She would say that he needed to get out more if he didn't already live outside.

"I'm sorry," she muttered as she removed the skeletal fingers from the swords handle. Once it was in her grip she started to head back to Charlie.

************

It was like a wave. From where she was standing the Duchess could see the force and flow of the crowd as they all ran in her direction.

The moment the Jabberwock arrive it was like a bomb went off. She didn't know why it was there because it wasn't often that a Jabberwock would just randomly show up and attack such a large group of people, but she was glad for it. The thing was able to completely destroy the platform and the evil thing known as Chess was nowhere to be found. It appeared that through dumb luck the thing barreled righted for her…the Duchess didn't want to think about the alternative, which would basically be that thing wandering around, invisible. _That just sounds fantastic_.

"Jack," she began to call while she pushed forward through the crowd. _Of course I have to be the idiot that runs toward the fire instead of away from it. _She knew he was at the front, but she couldn't find him now.

Panic, like she never felt before, began to set in. Despite the nature of their relationship, when she looked passed all the drama, part of her loved him and it would never stop loving him. The Duchess couldn't possibly imagine a world where he didn't exist. His image would always haunt her and she didn't want the last living picture she had of him to be a frame of a moment before he suffered through the death of his mother.

"Sophie," Jack finally responded. The crowd had lessened and she was able to see him where he stood only a few feet from her. "Are you alright?"

In that second she ignored all the aches in her body, "I'm fine, what about you?"

He was inches from her, she didn't even realize that he moved. His arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her closer to him. Their pressure was enough to make her forget the madness around them.

"Good, that's good." he replied as if he hadn't even heard her question. Right then she wished more than anything that she could read his mind, but she could only hold on.

************

"Well, that worked…well." Hatter muttered as he brushed the dirt off his pants.

When they finally were able to get the thing where they wanted it, the three men had no choice but to dive out of its way so it could charge into the camp without killing them.

"Oh yeah, it worked great. Two thumbs up for that plan."

"That _was_ something Harbinger."

Hatter looked around and saw that no one, who appeared to be one of the good guys, seemed to be hurt…but there was…never mind.

Another thing he was happy to note was the fact that the creature was nowhere to be seen and he was almost a hundred percent sure that he saw her get run over by the Jabberwock. Though he knew that that probably wasn't the case and they should all be on their guard...but the plan did work.

"Let's find Alice and get as far away from here as possible," he said to neither man in particular as he began walking.

"This way Hatter," Charlie said with a smile before taking the lead away from him.

Another high note for Hatter, was the fact that Noah didn't seem to be following them. It was a fact that was perfectly alright with him.

************

"Look at you sniveling here in that traitors arms, and your supposed to be our king. You Hearts never look passed yourselves." the Dodo started from somewhere behind Jack. The King could barely muster the energy to let go of the Duchess so he could turn to face the older man, but he did anyway.

"You're one to talk about traitors Dodo." he replied. The Dodo had been up on the platform when the Jabberwock attacked and he definitely looked worse for wear. Jack would've pitied him if there wasn't a gun pointed at his heart.

"You couldn't just give her what she wanted, you had to be righteous. You're just like your mother. I, on the other hand, was thinking of the people. If we complied, their suffering would end and now…now you've just pissed her off." Slowly he pulled back the hammer of his gun, getting ready to fire when a shout took the three of them off guard.

"Sophie get down!" the messenger called from behind the two blondes. They complied immediately only to be shocked when he tried to fire what was an already empty gun. Judging from the look on his face he forgot that tiny detail in his eagerness to play hero.

The Dodo was momentarily distracted, but after a few seconds he regained himself and fired at the young man. Jack could barely keep up with the action, so it was a slight surprise to him when the Duchess screamed and reached for the gun in his belt. Once it was in her hand she fired with decent aim, the bullet grazing the Dodo's shoulder causing him to drop the gun.

A moment later she followed suit only to get to her feet and run toward the injured messenger.

"You stupid-" the Dodo yelled as he reached for the gun with his good arm but Jack beat him to it.

"Ah, I don't think you want to finish that sentence," he whispered while he pressed his gun to the Dodo's head.

************

"Charlie!" Alice half whispered/half yelled through the trees. To her surprise, the sword was pretty damn heavy and it was becoming rather difficult to carry.

"Alice," Hatter's voice greeted her as he came into view. She was extremely grateful that he was alive and in one piece.

"So the crazy Jabberwock plan finally worked?" she asked as she lightly wrapped an arm around him before releasing him and switching sword arms.

"Yep, I can be rather ingenious when I want to be."

"I'm sure….So, what do we do now?"

"You, do nothing." a wrecked voice called from the trees, once again sending its signature shiver down their spines. Along with the voice, Alice could hear a small whimpering that could only mean one thing.

Turning Alice was able to that the creature did in fact have Sarah with her, "Let her go." Alice said her voice lower and threatening despite the fact that she knew she was completely powerless. She was too focused on the sight of the small girl that she didn't even know what Hatter was doing.

"You're not exactly in a position to be giving orders."

"Let her go you bitc-" Hatter started only to be cut off as he took a step toward her.

"Ah," she started as she tightened her grip on the girl's arm, "I wouldn't do anything harsh if you want her to keep it….Now, all this is actually very convenient for me. I should probably be thanking you for finding my sword-" the flow of her rant stopped when the sound of movement met their ears. "Well, isn't this quite the reunion," she started the moment Charlie came into view.

He didn't seem to hear or see her, "You found it dear girl! I should start saying that you are the true paladin among us Justalice."

"Charlie, we're ah, kinda in the middle of somethin' here." Hatter mumbled while he pulled the old man to a stop before he could get any closer to…it.

Suddenly a loud snap filled the air and a second later Charlie fell to the forest floor. Alice quickly knelt beside him in fear, pressing her fingers to his throat she was glad to discover that he was alive, "What did you do to him?"

"He's asleep, nothing more. Though, that could change rather quickly, unless you do what I want." she replied, she sounded firm but her face gave away a slight hint of wariness as if that last bit took a lot out of her.

"Look," Hatter hesitated before taking a step forward, "Just let them go and we'll figure somethin' out." His voice was shaking and Alice could tell that he honestly had no idea how to handle this situation. Neither of them did.

"How noble of you, but there's only one way this is ending."

"And how's that?" he asked only to prolong the inevitable.

"This nightmare of yours will be over the moment you reopen the portal."

They both knew it was coming, but Hatter didn't seem able to resist, "Yeah, probably could've figured that one out meself."

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:( Reviews...please?


	34. Lonely is the Night

**The inevitable showdown...**

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"Holy crap! He shot me! I mean…I'm actually shot and it really hurts." Noah yelped the moment the Duchess knelt beside him. Her hands fluttered over the wound on his right shoulder. It looked pretty bad, but he was lucky.

The Duchess laughed in relief before replying, "You should just be happy that that bastard isn't a better shot or he would've aimed for the other side." Quickly she went to rip her shirt, so that she would have something to press down with to slow the bleeding, when Jack appeared holding his jacket.

"Here use this." he said as he handed it to her.

Noah sucked in a painful breath when she pressed, but there wasn't really anything she could do about that, specially because it seemed that every possible person that could've helped them had run off into the wilderness.

"What'd you do about him?" the injured man asked the King while she tended to him.

"Let's just say that the Dodo is taking some much needed rest. And as for questions; can I ask why you decided to heroically rescue your king with an empty gun?"

"Jack,"

"Wasn't really thinking clearly." Noah sighed despite the way the Duchess said Jack's name. _I mean he just save our lives, his majesty could just be grateful._

"I wonder why." Jack muttered as he let his eyes linger on the Duchess, she didn't even have to look at him to know that's what he was doing.

"Sarah," Noah whispered while trying to sit up. "I need to find my sister."

"Sarah? She's your sister….I guess bravery runs in the family, but right now you need to keep still."

"As much as I enjoy following your orders, Sophia. Right now I need to find her…she's all I have."

He was working hard to cover the pain in his features, but his look told her everything she needed to know.

"Alright," she said with a nod before attempting to help him to his feet, an action that was greeted by a string of obscenities from Noah. To her surprise, barely a second later Jack was on Noah's other side.

"Your majesty…I didn't think you had it in you." Noah joked in a strained voice as they began to move in the only direction that Noah thought she could be in.

"Well you did save our lives after all."

*************

"First off, I have absolutely no idea how to go about this whole 'portal openin' thing and secondly why the hell would I do it?" Hatter questioned, though staring at the struggling Sarah was quickly answering his question.

"You would do it to save a life, whether it be the girl's or the woman's because you must have realized that I can kill Alice just as easily as I can kill this little girl here." the villain commented nonchalantly.

"You're not all powerful. I've seen what happens when your batteries need rechargin', which I'm guessin' will be pretty soon by the look of ya."

"What makes you think I can't kill them both regardless?" her reply was short as she shook slightly, before continuing, "Do you have any idea what its like…for me alone in this place?-"

"I don't think we really need to here the details of your demonic existence." Alice said while she walked to Hatter's side.

"Alice," Sarah whispered and even though she was visibly terrified she refused to just break down, _tough kid_.

"Magic never truly dies…when my people die the very essence of their magic goes to the land but memories, thoughts, spells they move on through our race…emotions, which used to be such fleeting things but now they are twisted and overflowing…also move on. The process does not make us more powerful, just…wiser, they're a history….And with the portal closed the thoughts and feelings of thousands of my kind have come to rest on me. I just want it to stop."

"At what cost? Look you've done here and you're expecting us to help you. Not only that, but how are we supposed to know what's waiting beyond that doorway." Alice replied as her grip obviously tightened on the sword. Gift for simplicity Hatter thought as he let his eyes rest on her, but only for a moment before he returned his gaze to the thing in front of them..

"Why-" she started before pausing, "Why don't you see what I'm offering?…Balance, William. Only Wonderland can reopen the portal and you are a very agent of the land itself." again she paused but this time it seemed mainly for effect as she watched Hatter, "Born of both worlds, but part of neither. You can return this place to what it once was, to glory."

************

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." the Duchess sighed as she leaned against a tree. She and Jack set Noah down at the base for some rest as they tried to listen to the conversation that was passing between the evil witch and Wonderland's former heroes.

"C-Can you hear…anything?" Noah asked. It was quickly becoming obvious that he wasn't going to be conscious for much longer.

"No, but it seems as though…she's holding a hostage."

"Sarah?" Noah responded without hesitation.

Jack nodded, "I'm sorry."

Without really thinking, the Duchess grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him a small distance away from Noah, "You have to do something,"

"Like what Sophie? We've searched the entire Kingdom for a weapon that could kill her but she's already destroyed them all. We have nothing to use against her."

"Not all," Noah muttered as he pulled a long strange looking knife out of the scabbard that sat on his belt. "This…this is a knight's dagger…it can kill her."

Barely a moment passed before Jack took the offered handle. "How do you suppose I go about this?"

"What do you mean? I'm not going to let you go out there alone." the Duchess whispered.

"He needs you and its not like I can drag him along." Jack replied, letting his eyes meet hers before turning them back to Noah, " Any ideas?"

"You have a gun…use it….Just don't hit my sister."

*************

"You can end the suffering of an entire plane of existence."

"Oh yeah, for a whole five minutes until your kind swoops in and destroys it all." Hatter replied. Alice couldn't help but think that he was taking all this reasonably well. Though she knew from her own experience that looks could be deceiving.

"Their blood runs in your veins too William."

Alice had no idea how he was going to respond, but what happened next caused him to not have to. They were once again interrupted by the sound of gunfire. It was apparent to Alice that the it was the one being shot at because she disappeared a split second after the shots were fired. Alice was glad to see, that because of this, Sarah was free and able to run and take cover behind one of the trees.

But it did leave one problem…

Alice didn't even think. Instinct took over as she turned and swung the sword with both hands at the thing behind her.

"Ah," the creature commented as she caught the blade, which shouldn't have been possible, before letting it pass through her. "This blade is enchanted but not in the why that can kill me." And with that she pushed Alice with what must have been all she could muster into the nearest tree.

Alice couldn't hold back the scream that escaped her, but she was almost completely sure that nothing was broken...and she still had the sword. Her eyes closed tight the moment she was hit but now when she opened them she saw Hatter swinging his right arm at the creature as they fought, but she was still a bit too fast for him which was evident when he was also forced to the ground. She didn't want to know what would've happened if Jack hadn't showed up the moment he did.

"Hatter!" he called before he threw something in the other man's direction.

The next couple seconds passed in front of Alice as if in slow motion. Whatever it was that Jack threw landed on the ground next to Hatter and he picked it up without hesitation before he pulled himself to his feet and planted the object in the creatures stomach.

Her violet eyes glazed over with shock when she looked down at what Alice now knew to be Noah's dagger. She reached out like she was going to wrap her arms around Hatter, but her hands paused at his chest.

"No!" Alice called out before she scrambled to her feet because she knew what was coming.

"Use it," Alice heard her whisper. Hatter made no sound as her limbs went through him and a second later he fell back as did the creature, but he was conscious as opposed to the other's clearly dead form.

"Stop," he whispered as Alice tried to touch him. She didn't know what was wrong but it was clear that he was trying to fight something that was inside him.

"What did she do?" Alice asked while she watched him.

"I…don't…know." he struggled to say as he moved away from her.

"What can I do?"

"Nothing,"

He didn't want her near him for whatever reason so all Alice could do was watch. A minute passed as his breathing grew shallow. Suddenly he took one deep breath and screamed. Tears fell from her eyes as she watched him struggle, but a moment later her eyes widened as something strange happened. Hatter began to flicker, a faint light started to pulse out of him and into the forest floor.

"What," Jack muttered the moment he knelt next to Alice. She wanted to turn to him, make sure he was alright, see if he found Sarah, but she couldn't take her eyes off Hatter.

Whatever it was ended almost as fast as it started and Hatter soon stopped moving, but Alice couldn't get up. _If he's dead…._

Jack was the first one to come to his senses. He went over to Hatter and checked his pulse. "He's alive. Unconscious, but alive." he replied to her unasked question. A moment after Alice moved to Hatter's side Jack said something about seeing what he could do about moving him, "And the messenger for that matter. I'll take his sister to him, but neither he nor Hatter is in good shape."

"Thank you, Jack...and I'm sorry." Alice murmured through her tight throat.

"So am I...just stay here, I'll be back when I can." and those were his last words to Alice before he left her where she sat holding Hatter in her arms.

"Have I missed something?" a voice called from a few feet away from them. She had complete forgotten about him over the last few minutes, but it looked as though Charlie was conscious. Now she only had to wait for Hatter, and this was Wonderland so he could take as much time as he needed and she would still be there waiting.

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**Reviews, reviews, reviews...please?**


	35. As Time Goes By

**I'm breaking this chapter into 2 posts. I thought it was going to be the last one and then I just started typing, and it flowed...and flowed lol. Which is kind of a plus, because this is being posted earlier. The opening is sort of an overview, then it gets into scenes. I hope you like it.**

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_It had been one week. _

_It had taken 1 day to set up a proper hospital for the wounded such as Hatter and Noah. They tried to make the Duchess check in, but she flat out refused to sit back and watch everyone around her work. Charlie stood watch over the injured, as usual._

_3 days to find the ring that had been missing since the arrival of Alice and Hatter. Apparently a lowly foot soldier (the side didn't matter) had taken it from the Looking Glass without telling anyone._

_4 days for people to be situated enough to return to the cities. Though homes were destroyed and the Great Library was in shambles, people knew that they could rebuild. By this time it seemed that Noah was well enough to leave the hospital and the Duchess housed him at her place because he had nowhere else to go and Sarah had been staying with her anyway._

_5 days for the King to make plans for a clinic. Many of Chess's former followers were suffering from withdrawal and the hospital was becoming too backed up to house all of them. _

_That was a new thing for Alice, the name. Chess, she knew that she would never forget it._

_6 days for Hatter to wake up. No one knew when it was exactly that he became conscious, but it had to have been at night sometime because he snuck passed the various soldiers and guards. There were to many people monitoring him in the day time for his escape to be possible. Actually, it was a miracle regardless, but Alice knew the he would do anything he set his mind too._

_It had been a week since she had last seen his soul through his dark brown eyes. A week since she had heard his voice. _

_7 days for him to completely recover only to wake up and ignore her._

****************

"What happened to him?" Alice questioned the Caterpillar after about three days of watching Hatter and waiting for him to wake up. Every once in a while she would leave to get some air or to help out with something, but for the most part she hadn't left his side despite all the work that needed to be done.

The old man looked up at her from behind a large stack of books, _I bet he takes those damn things with him everywhere_, "What do you know about the magic that runs through the Eyre?"

"Not much…except she mentioned something about it never truly being gone. That when they die thoughts and things move on through the race but, I guess the spirit or the essence of the actual power goes back into the land or something. Why?"

"Just as I thought….Chess made the conscious decision to give her power to him before she died, so that it wouldn't disappear into the magical void that Wonderland has become. An action that she probably thought would increase his desire to open the portal or break the bonds that cut him off from his magic."

"What?! What do you mean?! What'll that do to him? He's going to wake up right?"

"Yes, he'll awaken Alice…. I gather that, from what you described to me, he didn't except her gift. He used his sheer force of will to remove it from his body, but you should know that William Duff is technically the last of that race in Wonderland. Even though his magic is still bound, because of the contact with her magic along with his own, he may experience a few flashes of memories or feelings that aren't his own."

"But he'll still be Hatter, won't he?"

"I don't see why not…but he may have a bit more, as you young people say, baggage."

"Baggage is something I'm used to."

*************

"Sophie, you have to take one minute for yourself."

"Why Jack?!" the Duchess snapped back. She was sick of him following her around in his spare time, like she was a pet he had to get back on her leash.

"You're sick and injured and there's enough people around waiting to do the work your doing." he replied as he tried to grab the towels that she was carrying out of her arms, but she was fast enough to turn so he wouldn't get a grip.

"Would you stop, please? I need to feel useful, can't you understand that? I'm not sick and my ankle is fine." she paused mid rant to stop the shaking in her voice, "I need this, its all I have now. You don't have to act like you're worried, okay?"

"Who said I was acting?"

"Oh Jack, I'm not going to be your new damsel in need of rescuing. I can make it on my own. I always have in the past…and now isn't any different." she said all this after she set down said stack of towels, only to have Jack take one of her now free hands.

"Sophie, I've known you long enough-"

"Yeah, you have. Not that that's made any difference." she continued over his attempt to speak, "What are you trying to get at?"

"I care about you, Sophie. Deep down I always have."

"Don't...don't mock me Jack."

"I'm not."

"Then what's different? The fact that the woman you were in love with has found some else or the fact that I must seem like a wilted flower just waiting for you to come and save me?"

"Things have changed. Not even half a year ago you were a spy working for my mother-"

"Doing everything I could to keep you safe while you developed your little plans and you couldn't see it." her voice grew soft, "I worked for your mother to survive, as I said, but I also worked to give you a chance…I guess its hard to believe a double agent when they can't ignore every order."

"You knew that I joined the resistance?" he whispered while letting his fingers gently brush the unblemished skin of her cheek.

"Jack, it was kind of obvious, but that doesn't matter now. You're the King of Hearts…the King of Wonderland. You can have anything you want." she replied as she willed herself not to lean into that touch. She knew that was all she needed to do to finally have him, but it wasn't that simple, not her mind or her heart.

"I want you…" he sighed before moving his lips down to hers. He was soft at first, but they quickly got carried away the moment her fingers clung to the fine strands of his almost too short hair and he backed her up against a wall.

This…this was what she wanted for so long her thoughts sighed as her head spun, but deep down she knew. He didn't love her, not really.

"Stop," she gasped as she pulled away for air. His eyes closed before he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Sophie…?"

"I'm sorry. I can't do this."

"You could be queen. I can give you anything you'll ever need. Everything you deserve."

"But it won't mean anything."

"It will. I love you, Sophie."

"No, Jack…you don't. You think you should, but you don't." she murmured before she let her hands drop to his chest and push him away. "Your heart is still somewhere else."

"Give me time…give me time and it'll be completely yours."

She sucked in a heavy breath before replying, "I don't think that's good enough for me."

"Because of the messenger."

"Because of no one….I've already waited so long for you Jack and it wasn't enough."

"I'll prove it." he practically yelled the moment she tried to walk away. The Duchess could tell he was desperate and serious…_Maybe_.

"Fine, you want time. If you still want me, if you still love me in the months ahead, then we'll talk."

"What'll I do until you decide the time is right?"

"Whatever you can think of that can make you fall out of love with me." she replied as she felt herself smile.

He let out a small laugh, "And what will you do?"

"The same exact thing."

**************

It was six days after he had been shot and with Wonderland medicine Noah was almost completely healed, but that didn't contradict the fact that Sarah had a good arm.

"Bloody hell! Why are you hitting me?!" he yelped as he pulled his arm to his chest.

"'Cause you're an idiot." she replied sternly. The crinkle in her brow reminded him way to much of a tutor he used to have.

"I'll bite. Why am I an idiot?" he asked before taking another bite of his toast. The Duchess had been really good about letting them stay with her in this shabby old house that she seemed to own. He could only think that its state was due to the fact that she was more focused on fantasy clothes than home repairs, but he was willingly to fix anything that needed fixing.

"She likes you and you haven't done anything about it….I think its about time you kissed her." Her answer was exactly the type of advice you'd expect from a ten year old who was trying to steal your breakfast.

He slapped her hand away, "First off; she's asleep, so could you keep your voice down please? And secondly, its not that easy."

"Why not? You like her, she likes you. What's the problem?"

"She also likes somebody else."

"Then fight for her."

"What?"

"That's how these things always work….Prove that you're the better man."

"I'm not letting you read, anything, ever again. I'm not fighting anybody. Plus he's the King, so I'm pretty sure I'd be thrown in the dungeons if I even tried."

"Hatter fought the King for Alice and look how that turned out."

"Yeah well, we're not all Hatter." Noah mumbled before he finished his toast. Looking at Sarah it was easy to see how big of an ass he'd been to…his cousin. She was alive because of him. Now he only wanted the other man to wake up so he could apologize in his own awkward way.

************

"Hiya Hatter," the Dormouse murmured when Hatter crossed the threshold of his old shop. He had expected the place to be empty, but it appeared the he couldn't really expect anything anymore.

"Hey Dormie, what are you doin' here?"

"Heard you were back. Have you heard anything about what's been going on? Pretty messed up if you ask me."

"Wha-"

"The war with that thing. Pumping people full of tea like that, it isn't right. Good thing you weren't here for it…to tell ya the truth I slept through most of it."

"That's great-ah Dormie how 'bout you get outta here for a little while, eh? I just need to be on me own for a bit."

"Oh, no problem Hatter. Just find me when you need me." he mousy man replied as he hopped off his stool and walked out the door.

When he was gone Hatter took a moment to breathe. He needed it. He deserved it. The moment passed and when it ended his mind filled again running on over drive. Being alone was what he needed, it was when he was the best at sorting his thoughts. Since Hatter snapped out of the state he was in he struggled to get to this point in peace.

_But if its what I need_, he thought to himself as he made his way to his office, _then why do I wish Alice was here?_

*************

She was frantic. He left her, he actually left her. She had waited for six whole days only for him to wake up on the seventh and waltzed right out of the ward without a second thought.

_Maybe I shouldn't've left his side. _

_If I was there he wouldn't have been able to seek passed me. _

_Maybe he got confused, but then how did he not get caught…._

_He probably had a reason. _

_Hatter wouldn't have just up and left, I think I know that by know. _

_I know him by now…but maybe I don-_

"The harbinger has been spotted!" Charlie called as he raced toward were she stood filing names and dates in an out of the way 'storage' room, that's what they were calling it anyway. The whole process was just something she was doing to pass the time. It helped her stay sane.

"What?"

"Hatter, he has returned to his…Tea Shoppe." an odd look graced his features before he went on, "Our King came to me directly with this news, imparting on me strict orders to find you. I dare say, he may be useful after all.-"

"Charlie! Your telling me that Hatter's at his shop?"

"Yes, apparently one of his laymen was told to inform anyone if he should arrive. And, well, he did…arrive."

"Thanks," she replied. She hated being so abrupt with him, but it was what the situation called for.

"Wait, Alice." Charlie called while racing to her side.

"I have to see him Charlie and you're not gonna stop me. I don't want to hit you, but I will if I have to."

"No, no dear girl I wouldn't dream of keeping you from him for another second."

"Then what?"

"Be gentle with him. Having something like this put on you can be hard. I should know."

"How do you-" she questioned as her feet stopped moving, but he interrupted her.

"Now I would say it was because I'm a knight, but alas that's not the correct answer to your inquiry. No, that wonderfully odd Caterpillar fellow came to me with a few inquiries of his own. I would like to say that I forced it out of him, but the old man does like to impart his wisdom to others, and I just happened to be there to receive it."

"Oh,"

"Just remember…he's your harbinger, Justalice and he cares for you more than anyone else in existence."

"I will." Alice said as her eyes glistened, "Thanks Charlie."

"Anytime, dear one. Anytime." his words were soft, but she caught them as she ran down the hall.

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**Thanks everyone that's been reviewing and reading and subscribing. Hey I never thought I'd become a 'favorite author' :), that's just really cool. **


	36. You Can Leave Your Hat On

**And here we go...for the last time**

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"Hey," Noah's voice greeted from behind her as the Duchess grabbed some ointments and things from a makeshift supply closet. The 'hospital' was made up in a slightly aged mansion, so there was enough space for the little things. To bad human beings weren't as small as tubes and bottles.

"Hey, what are you doing here? You should be in bed recovering."

"So should you…but I think we both can agree that here with these lovely people is better than there with my sister. Plus, I'm almost completely healed." he replied with a grin whilst he took a few of the objects that she was juggling out of her hands.

She couldn't help but relate the gesture to what Jack tried to do a few days earlier, except it wasn't really the same. Noah was offering help without taking everything, "Thanks,"

"You're welcome, Sophie." he was still hesitant with using her name and to be honest she wasn't completely used to the fact that people would actually call her that. She had been 'The Duchess' since she could remember. It was sort of a fake title anyway, created by her conman of a father and used by the Queen of Hearts, but still, it grew on her.

"You know, you really shouldn't talk about you sister like that. She's a great kid."

"She is, but it doesn't mean that she isn't annoying when she's trying to be. Where are we taking this stuff?"

"Third floor nurses station. Umm, I hope this isn't too personal but can I ask-"

"Anything," he interrupted eagerly.

"Okay," she said with a laugh before sobering, "Can ask…its just, you said she was all that you had…."

"Oh. After my father died my mother just kinda floated around for awhile, I think she became lost you know. And that's how she was until she met Sarah's dad…yeah, the story really isn't anything new. He's was there til the baby was born, then he split. After that she did the best on her own with to two of us, but she wasn't really there. She died when I was sixteen and Sarah was four."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well it could've been worse." he stopped at a thought that he didn't voice, "At least we had each other and my mom's sister was good about doing what she could for us. So, here we are."

"Well, she's lucky to have you."

"We're both lucky to have met you. I really appreciate what you're doing for us."

"Its nothing. I'm never there anyway, I basically lived at the casino for…a while. Its good that someone's getting some sort of use out of it."

"If you need me to do anything, you only have to ask."

"I know." she mumbled when they finally reached their destination. "But, did you come here for something?"

"I was gonna drop in to see Hatter."

"You didn't hear?"

"Hear what? Sophie at the moment my social circle consists of you, my sister, and the crazy old guy that comes to baby sit every now and again and he doesn't really like me."

"He left."

"Hatter? But he was in a coma or something."

"Yes, I know, but apparently he woke up last night and just left. I'm sure if he was here he would've been happy that you came." She knew the whole story where it concerned Noah and Hatter. She knew that the man in front of her felt like he screwed up, but looking through her own life showed that a person could forgive anything if you let them.

"Does anyone know where he is? How's Alice taking it?"

"I think I heard something about him returning to his shop. Alice raced out of here like an hour ago, so I think she was going to see him."

"Oh…I guess I should, ah wait then."

"Probably, I wouldn't want to walk in on that argument….It looks like think you're off the hook for the time being. So I'll see you later." the Duchess said as she started to walk away. She thought the next words she'd hear would be a goodbye, but she was wrong.

"Sophie," he started the moment he came to her side, "Well…you-you ah don't seem to be that busy at the moment and I was wondering if you….would like to go get some food or something?"

"Noah…"

"Okay, I completely get it. I'll just, go and ah I'll just…see you later." he barely give her a chance to say anything, before he darted down the hall.

"Damn it," _Why do I always do that? With Noah…and Jack….Stop thinking about Jack…. Noah isn't Jack. He' s sweet…not that Jack isn't sweet, but Noah is different….I like him. I do…so why don't I just give him a chance?_

"Noah!" she called when she finally decided to follow him. He stopped at her voice and waited. "Look, I'm-" she wanted to say damaged, screwed up, confused, anything that could change his mind, but she didn't have the will to. Too many warnings and he would run away and she didn't want that. Something just felt right with him and that's how it should be. Plus, she and Jack had already made an agreement. "Never mind…where are we going?"

"Really?"

"Yes really. I need a break from this place anyway."

"Okay, do you have anywhere in mind?"

"A few places…"

**************

"Who knew being King of _Wonder_land could be so damn frustrating." Jack joked sarcastically while he thumbed through paperwork.

"Didn't you ever wonder why your predecessors did things the way they did?"

"Yes Caterpillar, I did. Now I'm stuck with the task of running this place without the aid of instant gratification." Jack replied as he pulled his hands away from the papers to run them through his hair. Few people had ever seen him this riled, but the Caterpillar was a teacher an adviser so he was used to Jack's frustration.

"You are helping to bring about a better age." the Caterpillar said from behind his spectacles.

"I know, but that doesn't make it any simpler."

"Its not going to be. This process is going to be a hard and tiring one. Many people aren't going to like or agree with you, but when they look back they'll be all the better for having had you." Jack knew the Caterpillar was right, but who wants to set off down a path that will probably make him the most hated man around.

Sighing, Jack leaned back on his chair and looked around his study before letting his eyes linger on the one object that could change his situation. The Red King's sword was held in a special glass container which hung on the wall. The science allowed it to be accessible to only a limited number of people. At present that short list contained the names of three people; himself, Alice, and Charlie. Alice on principle and Charlie because he had already guarded the thing so long that it would be almost torture to refuse him. He contemplated putting Hatter on the list, but considering past events it didn't seem like a wise course of action.

Jack refused to let the thing out of his sight, especially after what happened with the ring, but now it just seemed to laugh at him from its position. Opening that portal could fix almost everything, but that wasn't an option, not after everything that had happened…they didn't have the manpower or morale to fight a war.

"You're right. I just hope they don't despise me too much."

************

"Hatter!" she called once she pushed the door open, but no one was around.

The Tea Shoppe felt different without its crazy hustle and bustle. Alice could hear her footsteps as she crossed the room and followed the hallways to Hatter's office door.

Once again she pushed it open only to be met with an empty room, but a teacup on his desk told her that Hatter was wondering around somewhere.

Alice couldn't help going to his closet and pulling out the purple velvet jacket that he had given her when she first arrived. She slipped it on and breathed in his scent that clung to the fabric even after everything it had been through. Without really realizing it, her eyes fell on his 'oh so Hatter' hat rack. The sight of the old tan one made her smile and her fingers itched to take it, so she did. It was a little big, but it didn't fall off so she kept it on knowing that she must look like a little girl playing dress up.

Once her apparel was in place, she let herself look at all of his hats; some old, some new, some quiet hues, other practically screaming. Every space was filled that should've been... all but one.

She wanted to think about this, to work out the reason in her mind, mainly because she didn't see the one she bought him anywhere, but a sound stopped her thoughts. Whatever it was that made said sound came from outside. So, she willed herself to got to the window to see what it was.

And there stood Hatter, she would recognize his hat wearing head anywhere even is she wasn't looking at him straight on. Apparently he had built a decent sized trashcan fire on one of the wider ledges.

_Great, now I just have to get to him…without falling to my death…._

*************

Hatter heard her coming up behind him, he wasn't dumb enough to suspect anyone else and she_ was_ moving_ remarkably_ slow.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked in a not so nice tone when she was finally standing close enough to him.

"Well," he sighed as he through another envelop on the fire, "I figured, if I couldn't get me head straight I could at least get me paperwork sorted. It tends to back up and with only Dormie here nothin's been done with it."

"You left they hospital to go through your paperwork…?"

"Yeah, sort of…"

"Please tell me you're kidding….I watched you for days, just waiting, and then you wake up and sneak out of the hospital to come here and go through paperwork! That's unbelievable and I've been through my share of unbelievable things." she said as she moved away from the wall to come close enough to hit him, but it was too hard because, well…ledge.

"Alice,"

"Don't Alice me, or look me, or joke with me Hatter. You left! You woke up and you left!"

"I'm sorry. I just…I'm sorry okay. I just needed somethin' familiar, somethin' big and solid that was me….I floated around in this mess of a head and you kept me here, but I need to remind myself of who I am…pieces feel like they're missin'." his speech came out messy and jumbled, but it came out and he hated it.

And for the first time since he met her, Alice was speechless. Literally, he watched as she opened her mouth several times, but nothing seemed able to come out.

He didn't want her to watch him. He didn't want her to see him as he was now, but he couldn't stop her so he lowered his head and his body so he could pick up the final thing that he wanted to burn.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she saw what he had in his hand.

"It was my father's. It's the only thing I ever had that was his…and I'm burnin' it."

"Are you sure that's something you want to do? I mean, here you are talking about how you need to remind yourself of who you are and you're going to try and burn away a memory?…Whether you like it or not Hatter, everything you learned is true and getting rid of what you have isn't going to change that."

"I know…but who they were, or what they were, doesn't make me who I am. Besides, I only have so many hat racks and I already have one to take its place." he replied with a grin and a tilt of the hat, her hat, that was currently on his head. And with that he threw the tattered old hat into the fire.

"That wasn't nearly as dramatic as I thought it would be." he muttered as he turned to her and at that moment it started to rain.

"Come on," Alice said with a laugh as she took his hand and led him back toward the ladder to his shop.

**************

"Great, now sit there and take your shirt off,"

"Why _Alice_-"

"Don't get any ideas."

"If you had moved faster we wouldn't be wet, now would we? I'm startin' to think you planned the whole thing."

Alice ignored him as she shrugged off her wet coat and hat while searching his office for a towel or a blanket or something, "Ah!" she sighed when she finally found the door to the bathroom. Grabbing a towel she went to where he sat in his large white chair and started to dry his now hatless head.

"Alice…?" he mumbled under the fabric.

"Do I need a reason to help a man whose missing a very wet shirt?" she whispered when she moved the towel to bare skin of his chest. She wasn't going to deny that at the moment she was having a lot of fun. Or that she was clearly admiring him.

Of course she was still pissed, but she was going to get over it. Hatter didn't wake up and leave because of her and neither did her father. She had been so absorbed by that possibility in the past that she didn't even think that maybe Hatter just needed a second alone. Though he could've told her or someone where he was going, but he did just wake up from a magically induced coma after all.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she was taken off guard when he pulled her into his lap and placed his lips to hers. And that's how they stayed for an uncountable length of time, their lips moving in tandem. It was passionate and sweet and it ended way to fast.

"You have to go," he whispered when he finally pulled away.

"What do you mean? I just got here."

"No, I mean you have to go back. Back to your world."

"Hatter," she murmured as she took her face in her hands, "I don't think I can."

"They'll get the ring and the glass'll be opened, even if its just for you. I'm sure Jack already has everythin' plan-"

"Hatter, do you remember what I told you in the forest?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. I can't go with you, no matter how much I want to…and I'm not gonna ask you to leave your mother."

"Shhh," the sound escaped her once she placed her finger to his lips so he would stop talking, "You don't have to. Chess mentioned something-"

"Don't-"

"Stop, she mentioned something when I was locked in that cell; 'Home is where the heart is'…and I love my mother, I do, but my heart belongs to you now and there's no way I can change that. I don't want to."

"I…Alice, you don't know the things I've done and now after everythin' I don't know what's goin' to happen in my future and I'm not puttin' you through that."

"And I'm telling you that you don't have a choice. You're stuck with me, remember?...And I'll make sure you're okay." she said the last part with a smile as she remembered the time he said the same words to her.

"Quotin' me isn't gonna to change my mind."

"Yeah while it better."

"What are you goin' to tell your mum? Never mind that, _how_ are you gonna tell your mum?"

It took Alice a moment to think of answer. Its not like she could go back through the Looking Glass without knowing how much time would pass before she came back, "…The mirrors."

"What?"

"Jack's telephone mirror things. I'm sure he'll let me use them. I'll have him send someone through that can deliver it to her."

"Alice, you do realize that your mother has never been around anythin' from Wonderland? She won't know how to use it."

"She's a fast learner. Besides, I'll have a lot of time to teach her."

Once the words left her mouth Hatter stood up with her in his arms, "I'm not too sure about the last bit." he said slyly as he began walking toward what must've been his bedroom, he did live there after all.

"I don't think you can keep me occupied all the time."

"Wouldn't be too sure about that." he said in such away that sent shivers down her spine. A moment later he was kicking in the door to his bedroom and placing her on his bed. She thought that would be it, that this was the moment…

"Wait," he sighed as he hurried out the door only to return a second later with the tan hat in his hands.

"What are you-" she started until he placed the hat on her head and a kiss on her lips as he leaned into her. "Wait,"

"Alice," Hatter mumbled against her lips his voiced a little frustrated. Expertly she flipped him over and placed the hat on his head and seeing, as he was The Hatter, it stayed there.

"It looks better on you."

**THE END**

* * *

**Hehe, I couldn't resist the title.**

**Thank you, all of you that have reviewed, favorited, and everything else. Thank you so much for giving my first fic a chance and for staying on for the entire ride. This story has been on my mind for a long time and now that its over I hope I didn't disappoint :).**


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